Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:31
The first couple of years that my husband and I were in charge of youth group were beyond difficult. Our kids refused to pay attention, caused disruptions in every service, rebelled against all the rules we set, criticized every event we planned. It really seemed like they were trying to make ministry as difficult as possible.
Richie and I were putting a lot of hard work in, but it seemed like nothing we tried could make things any better. We spent a lot of time preparing their lessons, praying for them, trying to establish relationships, planning camps and retreats. No matter how much effort we put into ministry, it felt like we were getting nowhere. We were doing a lot but seeing nothing in return.
Working at becoming a Proverbs 31 woman can make you feel like that too. Maybe you’ve been following along with this series and trying to make changes but nobody has seemed to notice. Maybe you’ve been serving others selflessly for a long time but have never gotten a thank you. It' can get really discouraging really quick.
The good thing is, hard work doesn’t stay unrewarded. My husband and I eventually were blessed by the true transformation we saw in a lot of our youth group kids. Now there is even a small group that’s being discipled more closely and prepared for ministry.
If you put an effort into following God’s guidelines for Biblical womanhood your work will bear fruit and people are bound to notice. But even if in your lifetime you don’t get the recognition you deserve, know that the greatest rewards are those to be received in heaven.
All rewards and recognition must not lead us to take all the glory, though. We have to always remember that God is the source of anything good we do. If it weren’t for his help we’d be unable to follow what his Word tells us.
0 comments:
Post a Comment