Hands off – whose life is it anyway?
In Australia the school year follows the calendar year so this last week has included a lot of new beginnings. The children are back at school, with new teachers and newly mixed friendship groups. The two playgroups I attend have started up again and my youngest is enrolled to start preschool soon. Our Church Sunday School programs got up and running last week and I find myself leading a new group of 10-12 year olds which is a perfect opportunity to try out my Follow The Leader Bible study material. Then there’s the Friday afternoon kids club that I also help run with our friendly yellow puppet mascot.
A new resource for a new year
I suppose for people in the northern Hemisphere new years’ resolutions and goals for activities and ministries are not always set at the same time, but for us ‘Downunder’ we get to think through everything at once!
Even reading through the list above feels a bit overwhelming. There is potentially a whirlpool of busy-ness about to swallow me up, especially when I acknowledge that for a lot of the above there are tasks left undone from last year, gaps in the leadership teams and quite a few family commitments that I haven’t even begun listing. But we need to remember, don’t we, that when it comes to our lives and our ministry we need to keep our hands to ourselves.
As disciples of Christ, our lives are lived following, loving and serving Christ. If we allow busy-ness to interrupt the theme of love for our Saviour in our day- to –day life (and I write this knowing myself as particularly susceptible to forgetting this priority) then we are holding onto a gift that was meant to be given back.
The same thing applies in ministry. So often I’m tempted to feel despair, discouragement, or even apathy towards the service opportunities I’ve been given. But I need to remember it isn’t me calling these children into relationship. It’s God doing the calling and I’ve just been given the privilege to be involved.
Gerald the puppet
So this February, whether we’re gathering energy for the newness of what’s ahead, or taking a breath to keep going, let’s remember Who’s life and work it really is and press on in His strength.