“Your job is to be faithful, the outcome is up to God.”
Is it really a requirement to feel down and alone when you’re leading a ministry God has given you? And especially when you’ve asked for this? Why is it always so frustrating and discouraging to lead?
I guess being down is part of being a leader, especially when all you’ve hoped for are good things but the only thing you see is the opposite: no results, the ministry’s not fruitful, and it feels like all your efforts are wasted.
And then you see other ministries, other churches, or other groups that are doing so well and it feels like they’re living the dream and the vision you had. It almost seems unfair and you can’t help but feel envious because you also want those things they have. You want those blessings poured out on your ministry, you want your dreams and visions to come true, but you’re stuck in your situation right now.
God is teaching me to be faithful.
There are so many times that I thought, “This isn’t working, I’m tired, I want to quit.” But then God gives me His word or a song or a simple verse that gives me all the hope I need. And then I begin to dream again, that someday our ministry will flourish, I will see my dreams and visions come to reality.
But for now, God wants to teach me something I haven’t learned yet. It’s a process I need to undergo as a leader to improve myself and to help the ministry.
“Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 (GNT)