As with every thing in life, there are different seasons on the Race, in our personal lives, in ministry, in intimacy with God, in revelations, and in the relationships on the team. The past five months with team Ascend the Hill have been the best five months of my life. There have been so many moments of laughter, of joy, and of making memories. There have been challenges and struggles, and times of great revelation in what God has for His body, and how we are intended to live, support, and work with each other.
Entering into month 8, I felt it would be a difficult and challenging month, but I couldn't put my finger on why. We were in the Masaai Mara, a very remote area of the world. Some days it felt like we were living something out of National Geographic. As the month progressed, I sensed that it wasn't ministry that was difficult, or our living situation (we actually had a roof over our heads). Rather, it was the relationships on the team. It seemed as though all that we had worked towards over the past months was crumbling.
I hurt for this team.
I mourned.
I pleaded before God in desperation for His help.
For four days, my soul cried out for His healing hand, His redemption in my team. People were hurting. And God had put me in the place of responsibility and authority to address it.
EEK!
Before this season of my life on the Race, when there were strained moments in my relationships with others, or seeing tension in the relationships of my friends, I wanted to say something, to help, to share wisdom. But I was not in a position of authority, and so, even if I shared my concerns, those people didn't HAVE to listen.
But now, as God has kept me in a place of leadership, He has given me authority to address such things, and it has been my responsibility to steward that, to honor what He has given me. It's really uncomfortable though. The conversations are often awkward. Sometimes, they don't transpire as I had hoped. That
doesn't really matter though. LISTEN AND OBEY (to the Lord). Only He can changes people's hearts anyway.
So my reason for telling you about it is this: God places us in positions of influence and authority of the lives of those around us. He does not call us to use that in a controlling or manipulative way. But when moments come, that we KNOW what is kingdom culture, and what is not aligned with that, we have the responsibility to speak into these areas.
What are the areas of your life that God wants to give you influence and authority? How do you intend to steward that in such a way that it leads others around you to live in the principles of kingdom
culture?
If God has called you to address strained areas of your life that are fighting against kingdom principles/character, be ASSURED. There is a reason He has placed you in a position of authority, and out of that you do have the right and responsibility to hold others accountable to the character and integrity that God has fought to give us the freedom to operate in (not work towards! You already have it as a part of your
identity).
This week has challenged me to boldly trust in the leadership that God has placed me in. It has taught me that He gives me the right to speak into others' lives, to encourage them and direct them to His kingdom character. Even as I must submit to, support, and obey the authority above me, so must those God has placed under my role. And it ALL is to serve them, love them, and seem them awakened to the
greater revelation of who they are in God's kingdom.
