Dear Sister,
In this letter, I wish to help you see the task God gave you to do from His perspective.
Learn to see your ministry in the context of God’s overall plan. It would be a grave mistake to determine the level of your commitment to the task by how significant it looks to you or whether or not it is on your ministry “wish list.” We are often so shortsighted and self-absorbed that we think no further than our own little world. Consequently, we act as if our ministry only affects ourselves and a few people around us. The truth is, we are part of an enormous plan God has for our own nations and the entire world. If we open our eyes, we will see that our little assignment is actually a piece of His overall strategy. Just read Matthew 28:18–20 and Acts 1:8.
God deals with us on two different levels. Very often our carelessness or resistance toward a ministry assignment comes from our lack of understanding of how God works. He relates and deals with us on two entirely different levels:
First, as individuals: “You have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ ” (Romans 8:15).
God is our heavenly Father, and we are His beloved children. As such, He treats us as individuals and has a personal relationship with each one. Our uniqueness is precious to Him, because He designed it. He knows and understands us like no one else; He loves, cares and works with each one of us on a very personal level. We enjoy the individual attention we get from Him, and we wish He would always deal with us in this manner.
Second, as part of the Body of Christ: “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body ...” (1 Corinthians 12:12–13).
When it comes to church life and the ministry that flows out of it, God considers and treats us as an integrated part of a living organism: the Body of Christ. For this oneness with the whole body to become a working reality, it is necessary that we humble ourselves and allow God to melt down our independent self-life. Only when that happens are we able to see how interrelated and interdependently we should be functioning. That also puts our “insignificant”-looking ministry assignment in the right perspective. We suddenly realize how crucial our tiny contribution is to the effective fulfillment of God’s overall plan for the Church and the lost world.
Often we resist this melting-down process and fight to keep our individuality intact. Consequently our ministry contribution is not freely available to the Body of Christ to accomplish God’s purpose.
Your ministry is vital to the execution of God’s plan and the growth of the Church.
From whom [Christ] the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Ephesians 4:16).
To illustrate this Scripture, picture yourself, along with the task God entrusted to you, as if you were a tiny tooth on a little wheel in your watch. If you break off that tiny tooth, the little wheel can no longer accurately turn the bigger wheel next to it. That bigger wheel is designed to turn another and so on. The end result will be that the entire movement of your watch is affected, and it is unable to work precisely as it was designed to be.
In light of this, think about the implications your lack of dedication to your God-given assignment could directly have on the lost world.
Dear Sister, please take seriously whatever God gave you to do and fulfill it with great faithfulness. When you get to heaven and see how important your contribution was in building His kingdom, you will be glad you did.
May God’s grace be with you.
I love you in Jesus,
Gisela
