Ministry is hard! Why? Mostly because it involves a whole
lot of broken, sinful people. As we navigate our first year of marriage and our
first year of ministry, I have found myself putting my hope and identity in SO
many things besides Jesus Christ. It’s easy for me to be driven only for
numbers, and get discouraged when people don’t come. It’s easy for me to define
how “good” my week has been by if Sam and I have fought that week. It’s easy
for me to get frustrated at myself for all of this, and then determine to try
harder the next day, only to fail again. And in all of these situations, I am
forgetting the Gospel and I am taking my eyes off Jesus. I know this is a
problem, and I know I need to get better, but what to do about it? What daily,
simple choices can I make to make this better?
Maybe some of you reading this identify with me. You might
not be in the same circumstances, but maybe you have a tendency to find your
hope and happiness in a lot of things besides Jesus. Maybe you are easily
frustrated when things don’t go according to your definition of “success”. Maybe
you find your days ruined by small things that you didn’t realize mattered so
much to you. If that’s you, I hope you’ll keep reading.
Thankfulness and remembrance. God has been teaching me a whole lot about these two words and
principles the past few weeks. And it's fall, so what better time to learn the discipline and value of thankfulness!! I’ve been reading through the Old Testament for
the past few months, and the Lord tells His people to remember what He’s done for them over and over again. I think that
He reminds them to remember
for a couple reasons. First of all, He knows that they will forget. We are a
forgetful people. That hasn’t changed. Secondly, the Lord knows that
remembering will create an attitude of hope and trust in His people’s hearts.
We tend to look forward, and worry instead of first looking backward, remembering His
faithfulness, and then walking forward with hope and trust into whatever the future
holds.
“Be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you
out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
Deuteronomy 6:12
“But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did
to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 7:18
This past weekend, Sam and I were blessed with some
much-needed time together. We got to spend the whole weekend together; it was
very restful and an answer to prayer in a big way. On Saturday night over
dinner, we decided to start listing the ways we had seen God be faithful to us
over the past month and a half since school and ministry had started for us. We
both knew when we started that it would be good to verbalize and talk through
some of the ways He had been moving around and using us, but actually doing it
affected both of us more than we had expected.
“….the fact that so many guys I met have stuck…we have an
intramural football team together now and I spend most of my weeknights with
them”
“….girls who have opened up to me, been honest, and who I’ve
gotten to work through hard issues and questions with as they navigate freshmen
year”
“…meeting Reed, a guy who knows Jesus and is passionate
about following, learning, and serving others alongside me on TCU’s campus”
“…our community group that meets on Wednesday nights, how it
has begun to feel like a family”
“…for Ernie and Laura (our college pastor and his wife) and
the encouragement, wisdom, and love they have provided so generously”
The list went on and on. Just when we thought we had said
everything, something else would come to mind. By the time we actually couldn’t
think of anything else to say, we were completely overwhelmed with gratefulness
and how GOOD our God is!
Thankfulness and remembrance led us to worship.
Thankfulness and remembrance led us to worship.
“Many, Lord my God, are the wonders
you have done, the things you have planned for us. None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.”
Psalm 40:5
And I think that’s the whole point. In the tough seasons,
when it seems like everyday reveals a new disappointment. When every week seems to shed light on a new idol in our
hearts. When people fail and disappoint. It is in those moments that we need to
remember and thank our Lord. Because remembrance and
thankfulness lead us to worship. They lead us to the throne room and put us on our knees before an Almighty, Sovereign God.
And that’s the entire point of life.
“Man’s chief end is to
glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
–Westminster Shorter Catechism
I’ve started writing 3 things I’m thankful for each day in the
back of my journal. A simple act with profound implications in my attitude
towards the day and my hope and trust in the Lord. And although it’s a choice I
often find myself having to make multiple times throughout my day, I am
choosing thankfulness and remembrance. For ALL the ways God is working in and
around me. But most of all for the cross. Because even if nothing else was
good, the cross is enough, and it merits all the thankfulness in the world! Run with me friends. And let us choose thankfulness in this season.
“And let us run with perseverance
the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter
of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured
such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Hebrews 12:2-3
