WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO? 

by Darlene Kelley

I woke up this morning reflecting on Children's Ministry and reading about some of the struggles of fellow Children's Ministry leaders and started to wonder why we even bother to continue? Why do we, not just children's ministry leaders, but all of us who are involved in ministry continue serving in various capacities in the face of opposition and resistance, spiritual attack, health and other personal issues, at times being buried underneath a multitude of tasks that at times seem more than we can handle? Why do we have a bad day or a bad week and then wake up in the morning and do it all over again? Why do we do it? Why not hang out in the bleachers with the majority and watch others play the game?

Should I even be thinking about such questions? Maybe yes and maybe no, but they are questions worth consideration. The answers to the questions is really based on why we start ministry in the first place. Unless we have solid motivations for getting involved in the first place, we don't really have a whole lot to sustain us when challenges come later on.

So, after having one of my worst weeks in Children's Ministry last week, I had to go back to the beginning, i.e. why did I get involved in ministry in the first place? Was it because a pastor asked me to? NO. Was it because nobody else would do it? NO. Was it because church folks and other folks are wonderful? STILL NO. Was it because I want to play with toys and do all sorts of cool stuff with kids and have a legitimate excuse for watching Nickelodeon and going to Chuck E. Cheese even though I have no children of my own? All of those things are cool, but still NO.

Consider the words of Romans 12:1: "So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to Him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship." (ncv)

This is why I got started!! It was because of my experience of God's mercy and blessings in my life. Mercy that caused my heart to say yes. Mercy that made it impossible for me to hang out in the bleachers and watch everyone else participate in ministry - the work that God is doing in the world. It is and was a mercy that produced a desire within me to seek out outlets of expression for the gratitude that I felt in my heart for all that I received from God. THAT is why I am in ministry - to express love and appreciation for undeserved, yet experienced blessings I receive from my connection to God. So my service is not just service or completing a lot of tasks to get the job done and bless others. Enduring all of the suff that comes with the package is not just enduring and going through. It's how I worship! It is to express to God how grateful I am and to offer an expression of my love to Him...

Tough times are to be expected. I knew that and know that. But you know how we all sometims forget that part or try to ignore that part. I'm not the only one. But based on the bibilical history of other servants of God, and based on my own personal history with God, I had to ask myself, based on my past journey with God and what I read in the Bible, could it be that obstacles and opposition are really opportunities for an experience of blessings from God that we can experience in no other way other than through trouble and endurance?

Before quitting we must take God's words of encouragement to us in the same chapter of Romans, chapter 12, verse 11-12 to heart. "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times."