I've been involved in ministry in one way or another for about the last 8 or 9 years, kids ministry, host team and small group ministry. I have loved it all! However, until now it hasn't really been all that challenging.
Now, I've stepped into a role in ministry that seems to consume me. I should preface this by saying that this consumption is a good thing. It's this thing where it consumes me because I want so desperately to do well that which I've been called to do at this stage in my journey. Growing the Kingdom of God is not something to be taken lightly.
As I look back it seems to have begun in Costa Rica when I asked God to reveal to me just how exactly He expected me to lead. He gave me Ephesians 4:1-3, '.....walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.' Doesn't seem any less of a daunting task now than it did then, however, I have come to understand that He doesn't expect me to be and do all those things on my own, for without Him, I cannot accomplish anything.
I have stepped into a role in ministry as a coach of small group leaders. Being a leader of leaders, oh my! When I sit down with these men and women that have embraced their ability to love on others, to encourage others and through all this are making a Kingdom impact, I'm humbled to think that God has positioned me in such a place to come along side these people and lead them. This is not a role to take lightly, something that I should be consumed by, something this important cannot be a part time commitment.
So when through my studies God repeatedly takes me to passages of battles, that term warrior keeps making an appearance. Through every battle there is a reoccurring theme, if they listen and obey God and do as He has commanded, they win. If they follow their own strategy and stray from the path that God has set before them, they lose. If their leader, the warrior in charge, doesn't fear God and lead his army to do the same, defeat is inevitable. However, when they listen to God and obey His commands they win battles in sometimes ridiculous ways that one cannot question that it is a battle won by the Lord.
This mornings reading took me to a place in my Bible that I had journaled as I was preparing to go to Costa Rica, Joshua 1. It is the passage where Moses has died and God has commissioned Joshua to take his place and lead His people into the Promise Land. In this passage God reminds Joshua not to stray from what the Book of the Law says, in verse 8 God says 'This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.' A perfect reminder that I cannot fight this battle, I cannot win this war, if I am not consistently immersed in the Word of God.
So okay, I suppose Warrior might be a "thing", however, one thing is for certain, it is a not a role I take lightly. I believe that I am in the most important battle of my life, growing the Kingdom of God and leading others to do the same. All the while praying, reading, listening and obeying the commands of the King, for it is only through this that I will be successful.
