A New Beginning

It seems like this is the most difficult time for student ministries every year.

I've been leading the young adults (now high schoolers, as well) for over five years now, and every time August and early September roll around I find it harder to be motivated.

It's easy to blame the lack of zeal on the fact that the majority of the Oregon Tech students are out of town; any and all of the plans that are being made with regards to ministry are for "later" — after we kick off our fall schedule and things return to normalcy; and we run much smaller crowds in the summer.

I have come to realize that these special circumstances shouldn't have any authority over my passion for Jesus. Don't get me wrong, I would be lying if I said that I'm not excited to see the new school year starting, which includes new faces and more salvations.

But, Jesus said, "Lift up your eyes and look at the fields! For they are already ripe for harvest." - John 4:35. The fields are always there and always ripe (I pray that I always remember that). The key part of the verse spoken by Jesus is "LOOK". Pay attention, open your eyes, stop staring at your own feet and LOOK!

So, this last Thursday, I finally made the decision to actually look at the harvest and allow God to come through in worship. The result was a sweet, long-lasting taste of Jesus as we poured out our hearts and filled the room with praise. Suddenly, I wasn't performing my job or trying harder to "make" people worship. As we poured ourselves out, God returned the favor and drowned us in the ocean of his grace and love.

God was there. God was real.

Now, my vision is to worry less about having the correct "spiritual equipment" and think more about LOOKING, because there have been too many times that I have wanted to put my head down and push, instead of looking up to be engaged by the waiting mission field.