Miserable Ministers

“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:21

            Beloved, if your ministry is not causing you joy, if you don’t look forward to serve in the capacity that you are currently placed in, something is terribly wrong! Either you stepped into a ministry that you had no business being involved with or you are serving in the wrong church. If you are in a church where the gifts that God gave you are not celebrated; where the friendly fire is rampant, where your leaders are constantly keeping you down and the jealousy of Saul is after your life, you need to get out of there! It is that simple!

Ministry is tough at times; no doubt about it! However, if you are constantly complaining about ministry something is wrong. Why? Biblically speaking, serving the Lord is a joy not a burden. In Matthew 25:21we can see clearly that when people use their talents for the glory of God and for the service of His people there is a joy that comes attached to it – Enter into the joy of your lord– It is not just any joy or a superficial happiness; when we serve the Lord we enter the joy of the Master.Romans 14:17 tells us:

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit…”

            We waste too much time in the do’s and don’ts; we have the tendency to make ministry a matter of what we do (Matters of eating and drinking) When we are talking about the ways of the Lord; it is not necessarily about what we do, for we are just vessels of clay; ministry is first about righteousness. Our focus should never be on what we do; what we do should not define our identity. It is all about the Lord and His ways. We should be in constant pursue of being like Christ. The righteousness of God placed us face to face with our character; that is what gives us credibility. It is not about being perfect, but about being honest and transparent, allowing the Lord to change us. The end-result of doing things according to the ways of God’s Kingdom is enjoying true peace and true joy.

Beloved, are you experiencing peace and joy in your ministry or are you a miserable minister? It is time to take a good look at yourself, at your God-given talents, at where you are serving and where God wants you to go. Once you know where God wants you to go… GO and do not wait!

Stop wasting your time; stop believing the lie that tells you this is the way it’s supposed to be; it’s a lie that demonizes you if you even question the way things are being done in your local church.  It is time to stop being miserable ministers and step into the joy of your Master; even as you face challenges, even as you engage in great battles, even as it gets bloody and nasty at times, the joy of the Lord is your strength to continue this fight of faith and to finish the race that God has for you.

Don’t be bound by the lies of a Saul-like leadership. Saul wanted to kill David because of jealousy. Saul did not celebrate David’s gifts and obvious call to be the next king, Saul was consumed by such a spirit of control that he wanted to literally kill David. What then, did David do? Did he stay? No, David did what many of you need to do right now; he got out of there quickly! Many of you are being manipulating into false faithfulness! Beloved, faithfulness is not attached to being in one place for years and years; faithfulness is connected to obeying God! We have a responsibility to use our talents and we will give an account to Jesus for what we did and did not do with what the Lord gave us.