Concentrating on things that seem hard
If you’ve been following my blog over the last two weeks, then you know that I just wrote a series called “Decompartmentalizing the Mission of God.” In the series, I suggested that the mission of God includes proclaiming the gospel, strengthening believers, and caring for the least. The mission includes ALL of these things integrated into the life of a follower of Jesus Christ and the life of a community of believers.
However, most followers of Jesus do not find in natural (or even super-natural) to function in all of these different ways. Thus, we tend to focus on only one (or perhaps two) of the aspects of the mission of God. In spite of this, we must ensure that we do not neglect any aspects of God’s mission even if we occasionally emphasize one or more aspects.
But, how did I want people to respond to this series? Well, my new friend Linda gave a perfect example of a response in a comment on Facebook. She said:
I guess service comes easiest for me so this is a great reminder that I should concentrate on the things that come hard. There must be a reason that I think that they are hard.
Yes! Some things come easiest for us, perhaps because we’re gifted in that area, or because we’ve seen God work through us in that way, or because we’re passionate about that aspect of the mission. However, if we recognize that God desires to work through us in an integrated way as we follow him in his mission, then we can open ourselves up to new and different opportunities. These opportunities may fall in areas that seem to “come hard.” But, that’s just another opportunity for us to rely on God, his strength, and his grace!
Like Linda, I want to follow God, even if it means doing things that seem hard.