What is Ministry?
“Life is Ministry, Ministry is Life”
This quote has been ringing through my head for the whole race. I’ve been able to see it play out every day for the last 8 months. Allowing myself to discover the meaning and figure out how to apply it to my life. It wasn’t until about 3 weeks ago when I finally realized the “meaning” I had in my head wasn’t right. I had made this quote into something complex and confusing in my head. Something based on works.
Ministry doesn’t have to look like a full day of work, striving after the accomplishment of completing tasks. Ministry is life. It really is that simple. Everything you do in life is ministry. Even the smallest of things.
I learned this because our first two weeks here in Albania were what we call “ATL” (ask the Lord). This means we ask the Lord what he wants us to do for ministry each day and allow the Spirit to lead us. For me, these were a hard two weeks. We would wake up each day and hope to meet people we could become friends with or just simply have conversations with people. Some days we really couldn’t find many people to talk to and it would seem like we were unsuccessful at “ministry” or life too, I guess. I was putting so much pressure on myself to seek people out that I could talk to or become friends with. I wasn’t allowing the Lord to lead me, honestly. And when I’d fail or let a day go by without “meeting a new friend” or having a “good conversation” with someone, I’d be so hard on myself.
The Lord quickly convicted me of this mindset. I was so focused on my own goal of meeting people and my own ideas about what a good friend might be, that I completely missed all of the other opportunities of ministry right in front of me. The Lord reminded me of the simplicity of life and ministry. I needed to take a step back and simply look around. The people around me that I hadn’t noticed because I was so fixed in my own ways and stuck in my own head. All I needed to do was smile at these sweet people or give them a wave or say hi… it was simple. Noticing those around me, allowing them to feel seen and allowing the Lord to do the rest. Whether this was acknowledging the homeless people on the streets or interacting with the workers at the market by our house. Most of the time these small interactions didn’t lead to anything more… and sometimes they did. But that’s not the point. We shouldn’t justify the fruit of our ministry or life by what we can see. We should be able to trust God that even in the smallest gestures of kindness and love, He’s moving and working. We may never know what that small smile that took no effort from us, meant to someone else.
Matthew 7:17 “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the deceased tree bears bad fruit.”
As Christians, we should be reflecting the love of Christ. I can honestly say that I was not reflecting the Lord’s love at all during my first week of ATL. I was too focused on my own idea of ministry and was allowing myself to fall into the mindset of being “successful”. But really, who are we to judge whether or not the Lord’s work through us is successful. Allowing the lord to move through us starts with simple obedience and giving God full control. Instead of restraining ourselves from the things we don’t understand or see the fruit of, trust the Lord and let Him lead you.
Anyways, this is just a lesson I learned during my first 2 weeks here in Albania and I wanted to share it with y’all. (:
We only have 2 ish more weeks here in Albania which is so sad, but I’m also excited for the change and newness that is to come!
If you haven’t heard yet, we will be headed to Southern Africa (for real this time) on October 9th!! There I will be staying in South Africa for the month of October and then going to Lesotho for the rest of the Race.
Thanks for reading<3
Love,
Brianne
