Beloved: grace and peace be yours without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the last week of the month of July 2022. My prayer is that your heart will receive adequate boldness and encouragement to take your place in God’s kingdom and fully discharge the duties of your ministry. Amen.
Paul, writing to Timothy in a letter, says to him, “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2Tim 4:5NIV) How best do we summarise Paul’s instruction to Timothy here? It is that he should leave no stone unturned as far as his ministry is concerned. That means he is to see to it that he does everything that God expects him to do.
But what will make Timothy succeed in doing all that God expects him to do here on earth? First, he must have adequate and accurate knowledge of what God expects him to do. He cannot possibly discharge all the duties of his ministry, if he does not know what his ministry is. Second, he must have a high sense of duty. In other words, he must see what God wants him to do as his job and be passionately devoted to carrying it out.
The third thing Timothy needs is the competence to carry out what God wants him to do. One may accept a job as his and also have a high sense of duty. But if he does not have the competence required to get the job done, his willingness and passion to work will both amount to nothing. So, it is not enough for Timothy to want to fully do all that God wants him to do; it is equally important that he is made fit to do it. And thankfully, God does not give anybody any task to do without providing the person with all that they will need to be fit to do it. It is up to the person, then, to give themselves to taking advantage of what God has provided for them to be fit to do His work. (Cf. 2Cor 3:5-6; 2Tim 3:16-17)
But then, that someone knows what God wants him to do, has a high sense of responsibility to do it and is also fit to do it does not mean that he will do it. And why will someone have all these things going for them and still not do what God requires of them? Fear, for instance, may paralyse the person. When God first appeared to Gideon, He called him a mighty man of valour. In fact, He told him to go in his strength and save his people from their enemies. But the man was too afraid to do anything at the time. God had to build his faith over a period of time before he woke up to fulfil his ministry. And there are many of God’s people today that are just like this man. They are mighty warriors for the kingdom of God on their inside. But they may end up living and dying like useless people because of fear. May that not be the case for you, in Jesus’ name. Amen. (Cf. Judges 6; Ps 82:6)
Also, discouragement may paralyse a person and prevent him from fully discharging the duties of his ministry. If, for example, one is not getting the results he desires to get by doing the will of God or if he is faced with a lot of opposition, he may just lose heart and abandon his work. Moses once felt like dying because the weight of his ministry was driving him crazy. But when he talked to God about it, He told him what to do to lighten the load. And when he did it, he never had to be discouraged again. So, if you are discouraged about your ministry or anything in life, you just need to talk to God. And He will show you His provisions for that burden that has brought discouragement to your soul. (Cf. Num 11)
Now I have brought you all this to simply remind you that you, as a child of God, have a ministry in His kingdom that you too must fulfil like Timothy. And if you are not about fulfilling it, then, you need to wake up and pray to God to enable you deal with whatever is preventing you from doing so, whether it is ignorance, slothfulness, a feeling of incompetence, fear, discouragement or distraction. Otherwise, you will end up wasting the grace of God that is on your life. And no one can waste His grace and not be held accountable for doing so. So, as I said before, wake up and get busy doing what you are made and called to do. And may God supply all that is lacking in your readiness and devotion to fulfilling your ministry, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great week.
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