One thing I’ve constantly had to remind myself is that the ministries we’ve been a part of don’t belong to me. Nothing about this year has been mine. It’s easy to get possessive over something that fits every passion and purpose I feel I have: student ministry is my thing, having hard conversations that bring awareness to anything from saving the planet or feeding the hungry to sex trafficking is what I do, I’m the one who’s always dancing whether there’s music or not, I’m the one that plans the parties. It’s so easy to hear a word or receive a vision and say “That’s for me. Mine,” hold onto it with white knuckles, and get offended when someone else tries to relate or hold onto it, too.
That can’t be further from the truth.
Nothing is mine. Absolutely none of it. It’s all His. Every ministry is HIS. Every word is HIS. Every vision is HIS. Every passion I have is HIS. My entire purpose is HIS.
Every person I feel drawn towards…He’s already been doing a work in.
Every ministry I’ve emailed asking if we could help out in anyway…He’s been doing the work before I’ve shown up and He’ll still be doing it all when I leave.
Every community I’ve grown to be a part of…already His.
I can call them MY contact, or MY people, or MY friend … but they aren’t really mine.
In full transparency, there have been times this year where it’s been really hard for me to share, where I’ve felt like I was competing to be involved in some sort of ministry. That propelled thoughts of comparison and, well, everything in me just went downhill from there: insecurity, failure, striving… Instead of being focused on partnering with the Lord for eternity, I was focused on making a name for myself in the moment.
Sit down, Grace. It’s not yours.
You see, comparison is a killer, but collaboration leads to growth. These things aren’t mine because I wouldn’t be able to do half the good without people around me, doing the same thing. It’s not mine, it’s not yours. It’s God‘s, and He’s gracious enough to invite us in. All of us. Together. Fully founded in and coming alongside HIM.
What an honor to be a part of Christ’s body, of His Church.
Unity in the church is something HUGE on my heart and something the Lord has been calling me to be a part of building. The passage Ephesians 2:19-21 gets me all sorts of excited:
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
Read those verses again. Like, *really* read them. Do you see what it’s saying? We are ALL stones in a huge, beautiful, magnificent structure the Lord sees as His Bride. We have to work together otherwise we’re all going to come tumbling down. Keeping things to yourself doesn’t just hurt you, or the other person, it hurts the entire Church. It’s a bigger picture than we can fully comprehend.
It’s always been God’s plan for the church to operate in unity. Comparison and competition are all just means to fulfill the enemy’s plan of division, and we as humans fall into that so, so quickly.
I don’t know about you, but when I face the Lord (because we all will eventually) I don’t want Him asking me why I excluded others from joining in on the ministry He also asked them to do. I also don’t want Him asking me why I felt the need to take it upon myself to save the world when that wasn’t what He was asking of me in the first place.
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UPDATE: We are in the Philippines!! Last country of the Race, whaat?! This country had my heart the moment we landed. There’s just something about it, I know the Lord is doing so much greatness here and I’m blessed to be a small part of it all.
(but let’s be honest, I’m still counting down the days until I get to be home!)
