Success

Old Journal Entry:

I can’t believe with all of my failures and flaws, God would choose to use me.

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I know I am not the only one who has ever thought or said the sentence above. If you have worked in ministry at all, even just beginning, you may have thought this.

Do you ever feel pressure in ministry? One definition of pressure, “intimidation to make someone do something”.

Everyone else is doing it, so maybe you should too. You want to “fit in”, and be successful too.

I want to encourage you today…

To be a lady and serve in ministry you don’t have to…

Sing

Play the piano

Shop at Anthropologie

Be a speaker preacher

Have a certain style

Enjoy shopping

Have a large following on social media

Be a pro decorator

Excel in children’s ministry

You don’t have to be everything or even enjoy everything. I love to sing. I play the piano. I would rather shop at Goodwill than Anthropologie. I like to dress more simply, you won’t be seeing me in a glittery, sequined dress anytime soon. My home isn't in children's ministry, but I would do it if I needed to (the Lord would really have to help me). I love to decorate, but my style might not be for everyone. You can do all of the things I just mentioned or none of them.

You do have to be…

Submitted

Prayerful

Live according to His Word

LOVE

Be ok with who you are and who God called you to be, and you will start feeling more fulfilled in your calling.

Whenever I have walked into a place and felt pressure to be a certain way, I have never done well. I would say I have never succeeded, that is, I have never fully accomplished the goal for that moment. When I have done well, or succeeded, is when I have been who God called me to be. I have done well when His power and anointing has been able to work through me freely. It has been when I have been me.

When you feel all of this pressure, I would dare to say, it is a pressure to perform. If you are not careful it will crush you, or conform you into something that God never intended you to be.

God doesn’t want a performance, He wants YOU. With all of your failures and flaws, he still wants you. Let me add to this, that if you want to be “successful” then don’t get caught up in the response to your ministry.

I learned a long time ago that a “response” to your ministry doesn’t mean success. Let me explain. If I lead worship and there is an emotional response, that doesn’t mean it was successful. If I lead worship and when it is all over, I get the response, “you sang so great, it made me cry”, that isn’t success. If I lead worship, and Jesus is exalted, that is success. If I lead worship and not everyone in the room is crying, that doesn’t mean failure. If I lead worship and it isn’t a “blow out” service where there is no preaching, that doesn't mean I didn’t succeed. It is a success if God is exalted and praised.

If the power of God is in the room, He is exalted, I was obedient to God and those over me, and I did it with a pure heart - I count that as a success.

I guess the real question is, what are you trying to accomplish when serving in your area of ministry?

We can get so caught up with trying to live up to this “standard” to what everyone else around us is doing that we forget to live up to what God has called us to be. I believe that true success isn’t in a number, appearance, or anything other than accomplishing the Will of God for my life with a pure heart.

Learn, glean, and better each other. Don’t compete with the person next to you or compare yourself to them. Prayer will always be the greatest tool to success. God can anoint you for purpose, you can be talented and gifted, and still not have a relationship with God on your way to Hell. Success isn’t going to be found in a performance we put on to fit into this mold that it seems everyone else fits into. Success is found whenever we are exactly who he wants us to be, with a large following, or with none.

Failures and Flaws, you are called.