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by Gail RodgersThe demands of a growing ministry can become front and center in our lives. It is easy to postpone quiet times with God as we are engaged in ministry activities. We want to sharpen one another in our personal walk with God. We want to spur each other on in putting aside this meaningful task to take time to be face to face with our Lord.
Will Bruce, in Guidelines for Praying for Your Pastor states, “life’s pressures will always result in spiritual decline unless one is careful to maintain a close walk with the Lord.”
We all experience that decline from time to time as pressures mount in our individual lives. It is because we know this happens that we strive to encourage and build each other up. We know firsthand that we cannot expect to show Christ to others if we are not engaged in a growing relationship with Him ourselves.
“A wise and trusted teacher or guide” is the dictionary definition of a mentor. Mentoring tends to fall into two main categories.
- Doing: Coming alongside someone to teach a skill or give guidance in the tangible things of life. It is usually definite and specific and often completed in a designated time frame.
- Being: Coming alongside someone with material to guide them in growing in the intangible things of life, such as character development or spiritual truth.
This second approach is not so structured and may be a one time encounter or a sharing of the journey over time. Our main function is to encourage the person and to point them toward Jesus and the truth of God’s Word. God knows the details of that person's life and just how His Spirit is working to draw that her to Himself. He knows the articles and the resources that will meet that person just where she is. He will give you the ideas and the resources that will speak from His heart to the person's heart.
Our primary task in our ministry role is to stay in fresh relationship with our Lord. It is then that we will hear His still small voice of guidance and His words of wisdom and encouragement to pass on.
Staying fresh in our relationship with God is the key of being active in making small decisions during the day…decisions that draw us closer to God and to the freshness in our souls! We don’t intend for it to happen but somehow a passiveness creeps into busy Christians' lives. We do ministry, we pray on the run, we read when we get a minute, we encourage where we can, we slip our tithe in the offering…and we somehow slip into a passive relationship with Jesus. We expect Him to do the job of drawing near to us. We somehow begin to offer Him yesterday’s lunch and yet we long for a miracle today.
Take a moment right now and check your own life:
- Do you long for a freshness you once knew in a way that you miss today?
- Can you remember when the last time was that you spent more than 20 minutes in the presence of God?
- Has your prayer time become a hurried list of things God needs to do for you, or have you taken time to ask Him what is on His heart lately?
God makes a promise: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8) What do you need to do today, this week, to actively choose your relationship with Jesus over the many important and busy tasks that call for your attention? He longs to bring that freshness to your soul!
Make a choice to become active in pursuing God afresh. Actively choose to spend time in His presence, to expose yourself to music that inspires, to turn off the TV, to invite Him into every decision, to ask Him which fruit of the Spirit He wants to cultivate in your life today, to pray in a quiet corner and not just on the run, to listen for His voice, to read his Word and not just a devotional book, and to ask Him to teach you.
He will be true to His promise! He will come near and refresh your soul. Then you will once again have that fresh lunch to place in His hands to multiply and to work a miracle today.
Father God, thank you for each woman You have brought into ministry. Thank you for each of their specific roles in the Body of Christ. Give them fresh bread in their times with You so that they will have the freshness of Your truths overflowing in their hearts. Give them insight, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to speak and to do just what the souls around them need so that they can be drawn on in their journey to You.
Bless and protect each of the women you've called into ministry. Draw them into quiet places to have their own hearts refreshed with the simplicity of Your truths. Give them divine insight in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
~ Gail Rodgers is a businesswoman and pastor to women. She has a passion for discovering and sharing how the Scriptures apply in very practical ways where we live and walk each day.
