Kingdom Service

On Friday, I went to a special event at my church called Friday Night Lights. A group called the Outgo & a group called Lifted both performed & led in a night of worship. God was really moving & people were receiving words all around.

The lead singer of The Outgo, Melissa, talked about when she was called to music ministry. It was spoken over her that she would lead worship, but at the time she couldn’t really sing. But, she trusted God, and Friday night, there she was, leading worship (and not for the first time…)

I often envy people who are up on stage like that.

You see, I love to sing, and, honestly, I’m pretty good at it. Though, I don’t have a lot of confidence on the stage. But, I was building it. I lead worship for a time when our ministry needed it. But, that time is not now. And, I miss it so much sometimes (and, other times, not so much).

Right now, my biggest role in ministry is as a leader in our High School Sunday school class. I help come up with messages, prayer over our high schoolers, act as a mentor. I love this role I play.

Friday, at the event, part of me wished I was on the worship team. But, I was there helping make lemonade, greet, pass out raffle tickets, helped the guests bring in their set & set up their table.

And, honestly, I was glad to be doing those things. Glad to be helping where I could. But, a part of me was jealous of those who were able to sing. Of the one who was spoken over about one day using their gift with the piano (because I so wish I had time to pick up the piano again.)

But, if forced to choose, if it were even a possibility for me to do worship again but it meant letting go of my role in youth ministry, I’d drop that mic in a heartbeat. I have much more passion for what I’m doing now & I know this is what God has been preparing me for.

Being the Beloved means we find our place in God’s family.

The words of one of the songs we sang that night gave up the refrain:

“I give myself away, I give myself away, so You can use me.”

If we want to be used, we have to be willing to be used wherever we are called.

For me, right now, its about this blog, my space to share His love with all who read. It’s about the fantastic time I have in youth ministry at my church, even as some the teens like to tease & try to make things hard. It’s about showing up to special events whenever I can, and making myself available wherever I can. It’s about showing up each week to the young adults group & sharing my faith in fellowship with others in my church.

What is it for you? Writing? Worshiping? Or, maybe something more behind the scenes: making the coffee, cleaning, setting up/taking down chairs? Maybe He is calling you to speak. Maybe He is calling you to paint/draw/dance. Maybe He is calling you to work with prostitutes or homeless or at risk youth. Maybe he is calling you to pack up and move across the country – across the world. Or, maybe he’s just calling you to say hello to a lonely neighbor right next door.

Whatever it is, if we are willing to say yes to what He has for us right now, in this moment, we are living as the Beloved. And, by our acceptance and willingness, we are showing that to others.

I was able to say hello to everyone that walked through the door on Friday night, because I was the greeter. Had I been on stage, I wouldn’t have been able to do that. The lemonade I made was complimented, and I wasn’t even sure I made it right (because it was ice-tea/lemonade combined, and I don’t do tea). Had I been practicing worship, I wouldn’t have been able to make that lemonade (although, someone may have done a better job).

When you are a ministry leader, you can sometimes forget that you too need to be filled, and on Friday night, once I was finished serving, I was blessed.

Being the Beloved means being able to say yes, and work where He calls you.

And, now, I’m ok with that.

 

(I want to put all of Romans 12 below, but that seems a bit extensive, so I’m going to just a pick a few of those verses…But, I highly recommend the whole chapter 🙂 )

“So in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us…”
– Romans 12:5-6