Love the calling you have, not the one you wish you had.
Jud Willhite now had my attention. Being one of the final speakers at the Catalyst Conference, I had already heard many messages which spoke to me. This one may be the one I come back to the most often.
In speaking to leaders, Jud knew many face the pain of discouragement and have entertained the thought of quitting. Life always looks better on the other side.
He challenged us to “Go and love your ministry, calling, or organization again even though…”
Using the imagery from the book of Hosea, we were challenged to love our church, our organization, or our calling again in-spite of the pain and hurt we may have experienced in our hearts. Hosea was asked to go and love his prostitute wife again. Pretty sure loving our organization again would not be this difficult.
Go and love your community, church, team, etc.
Go and love them again even though it seems like they don’t get it.
Go and love even though…
“God didn’t call you to fruit but to faithfulness…”
Jud reminded us that, “If you don’t love the church you forfeit the right to critique it and make it better.” Whatever group or organization you need to love, replace the word church with their name.
Love your tribe.
Love your team.
Love your company.
Love your family.
Love where you are, not where you wish you were.
How do you love this group which has grown difficult to love?
1. Focus on unique strengths.
What does your group offer that no one else does? In a family, this is obvious. What can you accomplish in your back yard which you can not do while in the spotlight on a podium as a guest speaker? Remember the words of Reggie Joiner I shared the other day, “The impact you will have is with the people who you are with now.”
2. Stop comparing to others.
In the era of social media, comparison can be deadly. Remember that social media is a billboard not a diary. Every group has its warts, but all you see is the headlines. It always looks better on the other side.
3. Celebrate the stories of life change.
Like Hosea, we must make the choice to love again. Not what we wish we had, but love what we do have. Love it and make it better! Rejoice in what is happening more than you dream of what could happen.
The nature of ministry brings us pain. You’ve heard the famous joke that ministry would be perfect without people. It would also be pointless.
People are the source of our greatest pain and frustrations.
They are also the reason why we do what we do.
Be it our kids, the church, or our team; we need to love and enjoy the season God has us in. It will be over before we know it, and then we will turn to reminiscing about the “good old days.”
Why is it that it is better before it is realized or after it happens?
Let’s enjoy the now, not the past of the future.