Saturday, August 22, 2009

Be Faithful with Small

"Whatever God gives us to do - even if we see it as insignificant – we are to do it and do it with excellence. We are to be faithful with the small things, the small jobs that we are given, and God will reward us by giving us more."

"As a young adult, God called me out of the interior design world and into the ministry of sharing Christ with others. I was still doing interior design, but God gave me new interiors to work with that had eternal significance. I closed my business and began to follow Him by going to seminary and preparing for ministry. I was the over-excited housewife that no one knew what to do with."
"I was involved in reaching out to youth and even though I drove the leaders crazy, many of them were glad to have an extra hand around to get things done. I began to realize that I had to be faithful with small and do anything and everything and just see what I could learn in the process. It was two full years after I finished seminary that I finally got a full time ministry job. I did everything from fill-in secretarial work (I typed 29 words a minute – the average was probably around 50 or 60) and other temporary work, to organizing files, buying supplies, cleaning up offices, running errands, and other really important things. I learned obedience. I learned to follow directions and do it someone else's way. I learned to be a servant and to see the need and fill it. I learned humility and that I was very replaceable at any minute. I'm glad those days are over but I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that I could do it again. It doesn't bother me to make my own copies or set up my own room. It is nice when someone else does it, but I can still do it without getting bent out of shape. I learned what it was like to work for someone else and learned to be respectful of those who work with me. I learned what not to do as much as what to do. All of it made me to be a better leader today that I ever would or could have been otherwise. I thank God for the opportunity to serve in small ways."

Except from Chapter 5 in Women Leading Women, Jaye Martin & Terri Stovall, B&H Academic, 2008. http://www.amazon.com/Women-Leading-Biblical-Model-Church/dp/0805447601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250997622&sr=1-1

Philippians 3:12-14: “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus”.