What can you get done in a day? The possibilities certainly seem endless. Still, there are numerous factors. Calendar. Meetings. Interruptions. Conversations. Ideas. Eating. More meetings. Commuting. Coffee–or two—or three. But each day brings its own set of unique challenges and opportunities. And as creatures of order (at least to some degree) we like closure. We don’t do well with ambiguity. Rather, we spurn it. We like everything wrapped up for us in a nice bow. At the end of the day’s work. We derive great satisfaction from the knowledge that we made a difference—even just in our little area.
But what about when that breaks down? In ministry, there is a great temptation to try and gain closure. Alone. Do it all. Right now. Fix all the issues. Yesterday. Counsel all the hurt. Precisely. Console the hurting. Compassionately. Reach the lost. Urgently. The only problem is when we pause to realize there will always be another marriage headed for the rocky shoal. There will always be a health need beyond our capacity. There will always be a prodigal just past our reach. There will always be a need far greater than my capacity and ability to help. That’s not just because I’m young(ish). It’s because I’m human. And so are you. Take off the cape. Those burdens cannot be handled by you alone–not today, not tomorrow, not ever. We frustrate ourselves and enter the dangerous waters of taking on too great a responsibility to single-handedly resolve the problem. I can’t heal, save, or change anyone. Better still–I never was able to effect any change to begin with. I’m just a vessel. A highly weak, incapable vessel at that. The sooner I realize that the better.
That’s not to discourage. But to encourage. While I’m unable and incapable, happily, I’m serving the One who does and can all things. But only when I quit trying to assume a responsibility God never intended me to bear. When the chronic illness comes, when the emotional distress returns, when the trust is broken in a relationship, I may be the first call they make. But I had best not shoulder that burden on my own. Communicate. Build trust. Counsel. Study. Witness. Work. But let Him work in and through me. In His time. In His manner. And it’s not always all in a day’s work.