Hang in There!
“Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.”
2 Corinthians 4:1
When Paul writes the verse above, things are a bit hairy as he tries to win the hearts and minds of the church in Corinth and turn people back to the true way. It is an unenviable task!
After his incredible conversion, Paul is no stranger to hardship and struggle: from shipwrecks to stoning, from beatings to imprisonment – he has run the gamut of trials.
I am not sure what ministries, what “things” or responsibilities God has placed into your hands. I know how often the things I hold at work, home, in my family or within other organizations I serve feel like a weight around my neck, rather than a mercy from God.
Yet, while they may “feel” like they are a burden, the truth remains that they are a mercy – that for whatever reason, God has seen fit to trust me with these gifts: the gifts of ministry – the gifts of being God’s hand and feet in the world as a parent, colleague, leader, observer, writer, cook, housekeeper, repairwoman, seamstress, friend – and on it goes.
When I get overwhelmed, it is often because I have decided that God must have chosen me to oversee these gifts with complete perfection! I stop trusting God to give me what is important, I stop listening to others, I stop doing some things completely because they cannot be perfect, and before I know it, I feel like a failure – I have utterly lost heart.
Here, Paul teaches me that God placed these things into my frail human hands as a gift – a generous portion of the kingdom of God placed in my charge where I just need to do what I can do. God does not expect perfection – perfect parenting, perfect meals, perfect time management, perfect words – He just expects me to show up, with Him right there along with me.
Paul goes on to write in this chapter: “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)
It is HIS mercy, HIS power, HIS perfect love that allows me to hold anything in my fragile hands at all. It is His grace that puts it there, and His mercy that leaves it there when I make it about me, lose heart and get all flustered.
He has given you extraordinary power for the mercies He has given to you! How might you let the mercy of God shine more brightly today?
