Thursday, June 8, 2017

Purpose and Procedure


   Spiritual goals are wonderful! And by "spiritual goals," I don't just mean the overall mission of witnessing, helping people see God's goodness and seek Him; but specific objectives that accomplish that. Like raising a certain amount of funds for a program, or finishing a tangible project. The absolute fact that God will use these things to save people, and to build up His eternal kingdom is an awesome thing, and it's such a blessing that He's given us all a way to participate.
    But at the same time, it can be stressful, right? Because such a potentially powerful final result takes a lot of work, often a long process, and when working through that long process, there's plenty of time to worry about messing something up. We know ourselves way too well to expect that we'll do a perfect job. Yet we--at least, I assume most people--stress about the concept of risking the final result by human error.
    But a few weeks ago at a Bible study, I heard something that really blows this kind of worry out of the water. It's a simple reminder of something we already know, really: God is with us, so what we do in ministry isn't all in our hands because the Lord guides us in the process! His Holy Spirit is stated to be the One who "bears witness" (1 John 5:6), He's called the "Helper" who will abide with us (John 14:16), and there are verses all through Proverbs where it's stated that God is the one who guides our steps (like 3:5-6, 16:3, and 16:9). The Lord has promised to never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), so naturally that must mean He won't leave alone in good work either. He'll help us be strong and encouraged to complete the work He's given us to accomplish!
    So the ultimate purpose and the procedure of a ministry-related goal is safely in God's hands, just as we are; isn't that a relief? :)

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