Let Go and Let God: A Cheesy but True Slogan

I used to fret a lot over what ministry I could do. That may be the understatement of the decade, but it's too early to tell for sure.

Ministry is my passion. Opportunities to speak God into the lives of people impassions (I don't think that's a word) me. That is to say, it infuses my life with passion.

Fifteen years ago I thought that meant organized ministry; teaching adult classes, speaking at retreats, being recognized as one who ministers. I worked hard to make ministry happen for me and was deeply frustrated and angry at the times it didn't. I was miserably jealous anytime another woman was asked to do the things I was gifted at. And I was doggone mad at God for it all!

This morning the preacher preached about letting go. Not a pat-answer shallow lesson filled with slogans and sound bites, but a deeply theological and timely reminder that things really go better for the entire world in which we live when we do let go, experience the "shalom" God offers, and let Him be the doer.

That is the very journey God took me on beginning about 13 years ago. He had made it clear to me that no matter how hard I tried or how much I fretted, I could not manufacture ministry opportunities for myself. That was His job. The journey also involved learning that the things I thought ministry meant (status, recognition, self-glory) were not true ministry. Over time and with much wrangling on my part I came to see that ministry is about touching lives in whatever way you are able as people come across your path.

As I listened to the preacher this morning, I thought about how much more shalom I have in my life devoted to serving God's people than I used to (of course, you don't have to have much to have more than none).

I no longer fret, mostly. I no longer manufacture, mostly. I no longer envy, mostly. Now I wait, mostly. And I experience shalom.

Ministry is much more adventuresome now, too. I never know what form the sacred and eternal moments God invites me into might look like. A visit to a hospital room, a moment of speaking His forgiveness and love into the life of one of His children, a classroom of His people to teach, a prayer with the grieving, thanksgiving with the rejoicing, or simply allowing people to be who He made them to be in the space of my life.

None of these things are glamorous or bring worldly recognition and status. But every single one of them brings a joy I could not have imagined when I fretted and fought to create "my" ministry.