15 Things I've Learned in 15 Years of Ministry: Part 1, Looking Upward

I never get tired of telling someone I have worked for CEF for 15 years and then watching them (fail to) calculate my age. (Full disclosure. I am 28, by the way.) That first year, a man in my church handed me an application for Christian Youth in Action and said, “I think you should do this this summer.” I sometimes light-heartedly wonder if he ever regretted that decision, but I know I never have. I have been challenged over the years in many ways: working well with my peers, managing my time, sacrificing a leisurely summer, speaking publicly, rightly handling the word of God, adapting to the sudden changes in plans, and many more.  But nothing has ever dulled the passion that God granted me when I saw a child completely changed by the good news of Jesus Christ. There are probably hundreds of stories I could tell you, but I will settle for just a few that have been meaningful to me over the last decade and a half of ministry.

God can do far more than we can ask.

The first scripture I want to share is Ephesians 3:20, which says, “Now [glory] to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think […].” I cherish many memories of God going above and beyond to make way for his Word to be taught. One example would be a summer day when we prayed for a fruitful outreach at a local Goodtimes Center. Above and beyond what we asked, God sent rain that drove inside all the children who would have been in the pool but instead were inside and able to hear the Gospel. The rain started as we entered the parking lot and ended as we left. Another time, God’s abundant blessing came in the form of a large donation, unexpected for all of us at CEF, from a generous donor which afforded me the opportunity to work full time for a season in this ministry that I dearly love. In short, we do ourselves a great disservice and God a great insult when we underestimate his desire and ability to bless us above and beyond what we even know to ask.

God likes to show off.

We know God desires people to know him. We know he is mighty and willing to save. I am pretty sure, sometimes, he just likes to show off so we can see just how big he is. Sometimes he makes it so painfully obvious. As if to say, “Oh, yeah. You know that was me.” Sometimes he doesn’t just send rain. He sends exactly an hour of rain. In 2008, we CYIA teens were scheduled to do open air ministry with the Wordless Book at a local Goodtimes Center. Rather than a structured 5 Day Club, we would go in and each sit with a small group of children and simply share the Gospel using the Wordless Book. At the exact moment they let us in to the building, it began to rain. We didn’t realize that all the children who would have been swimming while we were there were brought inside. We just knew the place was packed. We were able to share the Gospel with all the children there, rather than just half of them. As we were leaving the building, the rain stopped. No doubt, God wanted it to be plain that He brought the children inside to hear his good news.

God is bigger than any opposition.

When you devote your time and energy to the things of God, the enemy will go on the offensive. Paul tells us plainly in his letter to the Ephesians that we are not battling flesh and blood, but we are battling spiritual beings. (Ephesians 6:12) He then instructs us to put on the armor of God to be ready for the battle. But we also rest assured knowing that God has gone before us and won the war through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today, he is stronger that any opposition that can come against us. When teaching a 5 Day Club in an urban housing project, we encountered days of discouraging behavioral issues. Everything about that club seemed to be difficult. One morning, we specifically prayed that God would change the hearts of the children and give us peace during club. That day was a totally different experience. The children were excited to see us and to join in with the club activities. After the club, the director of the community center shared with us there was a cult in the neighborhood that had opposed having 5 Day Club there and were praying against us. But when we asked for God’s help, he made all the difference.

God loves the hard cases.

‘The children who need love the most will always ask for it in the most unloving ways.” (Russell Barkley) Jesus, God in the flesh, spent time so close to those who seems the least lovable. At the last supper, he probably sat right next to the man who betrayed him. He prayed for the souls of those who tortured and killed him. He knows better than any of us what it’s like to love the seemingly unlovable. At another urban 5 Day Club, I encounters a little boy – and I mean little. He looked and talked more like a 3-year-old child but was in fact 5 years old. He came from a less than ideal home where he was rarely talked to, likely causing a speech delay. What little he did say was often profane. He started fights with anyone who got close to him, including children twice his size. In those 5 days, he sprayed with a juice pouch twice, punched me in the mouth while I was breaking up on of his fights, and stole a volunteer’s shoes and threw them over a fence. Despite all of that, I discovered when I scooped him into my arms and held him, he was quiet and peaceful. This was not a bad child. This was a child starving for love and connection. God only knows where this little boy is, now likely 16 years old. In fact, on that Friday, I cried big fat tears at the thought of never seeing him again. As hard as that week was, I am grateful for all I learned about God’s heart for the vulnerable through my experiences with him.

God is not a man that he should lie.

“God is not a man that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. has he said, and will he not do? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill.” (Numbers 23:19) I know with strong conviction that God called me to a life of missions at a young age. What he did not give me at that time were detailed GPS directions through life. He did not give me the option to sign up for text notifications for when his provisions would arrive at my doorstep. What he has done throughout these fifteen years is slowly, little by little, teach me about his faithfulness. Day by day, one miraculous provision or unexpected turn at a time, I have learned to know him better and to trust him more. I still have a long way to go. God only knows the things I will learn in the next fifteen years of following him. But I can confidently say he will not lie and not one of his promises will fail.