Recently, I've been studying the gospels and reflecting on the life of Jesus. We all can see the outline of His life very clearly. He had His time of preparation, then entered into His ministry, and ended with His death and resurrection. As I thought about this example, this guideline that we can base our lives on, I found incredible peace.
See, I have always wanted to be in ministry. The Lord placed a firm desire within my heart to serve Him when I was in high school. Since that time, when I was 15 years old, I have been actively involved in ministry of some kind, in serving the Lord, or pursuing ministry to some degree.
And still... I always feel like I could be doing more. I always feel like I haven't arrived in a season of full ministry. I feel like I'm still growing, still learning, never arriving. Reflecting on Jesus' ministry has convicted me.
Jesus didn't enter into His ministry until He was 30 years old. And it only lasted for three years before He left this earth. Now, I don't think that every believer will follow this timeline. I think we can serve the Lord when we are younger, and ideally for longer, until Jesus calls us home.
But recognizing that Jesus spent thirty years preparing to enter into ministry... It's given me REST.
Being a mom has forced me to take a step back from the obvious ministries I've been involved in, entering into a season of serving the Lord by serving my family. And that is still a good thing. And maybe... maybe I'm still in my season of preparation. Maybe the Lord will keep preparing me for three, or six, or nine more years. And it's ok to take that time to grow and learn and prepare. Maybe I haven't arrived, entered into that wonderfully challenging season of ministry. But if these years of serving the Lord have just been preparation... I can't WAIT to see what He does in and through my life when I do enter into that "ministry" season! I'm taking encouragement in the fact that I have MANY years ahead of me to serve the Lord, and there is still a fruitful season ahead for me!
Rather than constantly striving to be in a different season, I'm patiently waiting on the Lord for HIS timing, HIS call to enter into ministry, knowing it will be well worth the wait. I'm focusing on preparing, right here, right now, anticipating the future God has planned for me.
