He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. -Luke 10:2
You prayed along with this passage and you realized that you are an answer to this prayer as you desire to take part in helping fulfill the Great Commission stated in Matthew 28:18-20. You said YES to Jesus. You cried your heart out because of your compassion for the lost. You want your life to be invested for something that will last for eternity.
You are now excited to go to the battlefield - reaching out to the students by sharing the gospel and discipling them to do the same with others. But you can't go yet. You have to form your Mission Team. It is composed of individuals who care - for you and your ministry among the students. They are the ones who will support you in fervent payers as you go to the battle daily. They are the ones who will support for your daily needs so that you can fight the battle effectively and efficiently. They are God's instruments whom you can cry on, run to and pour your heart to when days are seemingly so unfavorable and when you think you need strength and encouragement to continue on.
As soon as this Mission Team is completed, you are now ready to go through the nine-month "boot camp" training to be fully equipped and sharpened with necessary basic skills to win the battle. You have to learn and unlearn the basic principles of connecting with the students, presenting Jesus' claims, engaging in the discipleship discussions, training for life-changing actions, and helping develop future leaders for the Great Commission.
As you commence the nine-month training, you are now fully armored, released to fight a good fight of faith. You are His soldier who is so focused on the task entrusted to you. You are like a farmer who is so hard working. You are like an athlete who is so disciplined to do the task.
The daily battles are not easy for you. There are so many demands. Yet you want to still get focused, do the hard work and maintain the discipline. You make sure to have time with your Master in the morning - be it in bed or anywhere in and out of the house. You want to spend quality time with Him for direction in your daily endeavors, gain strength and encouragement from Him, get a daily doze of assurance that He will never leave you nor forsake you in whatever you do. You want to be always satisfied by Him. Then you have a family to take care too. You take turn with your spouse in the house cleaning, food preparation, laundry, feeding the kids, sending them to school, fetching them and guiding them with some home works. Some days are not good days for your little ones. Then your patience is challenged. You thought you already learned it in the training until you have your own little ones. But you are continually being trained to be patient, to extend grace just as His grace is more than enough for us.
The daily battles continue as you faithfully go to your field. As you try your best to connect with the students, looking for opportunities to share His message, many would not pay attention. They are busy with their gadgets. They are actually free but they are simply not interested to talk with you. Sometimes you feel bad because you felt like you are rejected too though it's Him whom they reject. Many times, you would have good conversations with a bunch of students who willingly give their time to listen, engage and make the most important decision in life. Your heart leaps with joy. You invite them for the next appointments to talk more about it. A few from this group would show up. This is the reality. You keep on. You persevere until you see the fruit of your labor. Many of them get so excited every time you meet for discipleship. There are evidences of growth among them- they learn to read the bible, to pray, and to share their faith with others as they continue to get involved in your weekly small group discipleship meeting and in modeling faith actions. Their vision is increasing, owning their campuses for Jesus. They see it now as their battlefield. Just like you who once surrendered your life to Jesus and committed to help fulfill the Great Commission, they are now following your footsteps. You are awed at His work. You praise God for what He is doing in and through your life and ministry.
Then you are also confronted with the reality. You have to work on developing your Mission Team. You thought that it's already complete and yet along the way, some faced their own challenges too. They can't support you anymore. You are on your bended knees, acknowledging that it's He who formed them. He will continue to work in and through you to continually look for those He has already prepared to complete the missing puzzles of your team.
You are now recruiting young armies for the battle. Young, aggressive and strong in character and skills. As the battle gets tougher, you become more determined to fight a good fight of faith with your team. As you remain faithful to the call, your Commander-in-Chielf is giving you a wider scope to take over. It's not just your country but also the neighboring countries in your region.
You persevere as He enables you. It's all by His grace. Apart from Him you are nothing so you keep on holding tight to Him.
The battle continues on and off the field.
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento