Ministry is about waiting
Ministry is a series of waiting. Waiting for one soul to be saved, waiting for faith to mature, waiting for prayers to be answered, waiting for problems to be solved... The reason I was able to endure ministry, despite the numerous difficulties, was because I realised that ministry is about waiting.
Waiting was a time of brokenness and shattering. When members experienced slight difficulties, they didn’t come to church or house church. In the early days of the church, when even one member was so precious, I remember visiting an apartment in the city as a young couple had not come to church. At the time, it happened to be a very windy, winter day in Sydney. Even though I knew the couple were inside as we had already agreed to meet at that time, there was no answer when I rang the bell. I waited at the front of the apartment with my two young children, feeling the wind and waiting and waiting. Finally, on my way back home after meeting them, I felt a surge of sadness and wondered if this was ministry. But waiting was a time I was broken and shattered.
Waiting was a time of change and growth. The ministry that started off like this grew one by one and became the foundation of the church I am currently pastoring. And about the house churches, people who I thought of as sheep and cows on green pastures were established as shepherds and shepherds, and they now know the value of each soul and live a life of waiting each week at the house church. They call and invite people to the house church, they send KakaoTalk messages, and prepare food with a heart that is waiting. Even though no one gives them money or recognition, the shepherd is happy when his house is full with his house church family.
Waiting was the heart of the Lord. Jesus expressed the heavenly feast as inviting and waiting. The banquet was not simply a place to eat food, but a place for sinners to receive salvation, to taste God's grace, and to declare that they had become part of God's family. Doing ministry means you are representing the Lord’s waiting heart.
Waiting was a blessing in ministry. When I see each soul, one by one, receiving Jesus, being baptised, and being raised as disciples and then shepherding a house church, I think this is the joy of ministry. If the time of waiting were to disappear, the sorrow for one soul will disappear, and the earnestness of prayer will also disappear.
What am I waiting for now? I pray that we can walk the path of a missionary for the souls entrusted to us with a consistent heart.
Word of the week
“Will I live up to my magnitude?”, “Will I live up to God’s magnitude?”. God blesses and uses those who do not remain on focused on their own thoughts or their own size but look at the work God is doing and in faith, participates in God’s magnitude of size.
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이동주 2024.02.24 10:06
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Ministry is a series of waiting. Waiting for one soul to be saved, waiting for faith to mature, waiting for prayers to be answered, waiting for problems to be solved... The reason I was able to endure ministry, despite the numerous difficulties, was because I realised that ministry is about waiting.
Waiting was a time of brokenness and shattering. When members experienced slight difficulties, they didn’t come to church or house church. In the early days of the church, when even one member was so precious, I remember visiting an apartment in the city as a young couple had not come to church. At the time, it happened to be a very windy, winter day in Sydney. Even though I knew the couple were inside as we had already agreed to meet at that time, there was no answer when I rang the bell. I waited at the front of the apartment with my two young children, feeling the wind and waiting and waiting. Finally, on my way back home after meeting them, I felt a surge of sadness and wondered if this was ministry. But waiting was a time I was broken and shattered.
Waiting was a time of change and growth. The ministry that started off like this grew one by one and became the foundation of the church I am currently pastoring. And about the house churches, people who I thought of as sheep and cows on green pastures were established as shepherds and shepherds, and they now know the value of each soul and live a life of waiting each week at the house church. They call and invite people to the house church, they send KakaoTalk messages, and prepare food with a heart that is waiting. Even though no one gives them money or recognition, the shepherd is happy when his house is full with his house church family.
Waiting was the heart of the Lord. Jesus expressed the heavenly feast as inviting and waiting. The banquet was not simply a place to eat food, but a place for sinners to receive salvation, to taste God's grace, and to declare that they had become part of God's family. Doing ministry means you are representing the Lord’s waiting heart.
Waiting was a blessing in ministry. When I see each soul, one by one, receiving Jesus, being baptised, and being raised as disciples and then shepherding a house church, I think this is the joy of ministry. If the time of waiting were to disappear, the sorrow for one soul will disappear, and the earnestness of prayer will also disappear.
What am I waiting for now? I pray that we can walk the path of a missionary for the souls entrusted to us with a consistent heart.
Word of the week
“Will I live up to my magnitude?”, “Will I live up to God’s magnitude?”. God blesses and uses those who do not remain on focused on their own thoughts or their own size but look at the work God is doing and in faith, participates in God’s magnitude of size.