By nature – I do my best to avoid pain!  In fact, I have told Joy many times that I am not afraid of dying – I just don’t want it to hurt!  Last Sunday I shared in a message on ministry that sometime our ministry for God and to others will take us to a place where it costs us.  Serving God will not always be convenient and work according to our schedule.  Serving God will not always be easy – many times it will require that we give more of ourselves than we had originally planned.  But if our service and ministry are really for God, then we can rejoice in any suffering that might come our way!

God is allowing me to learn some of this lesson first hand this week.  I am battling some physical problems in the midst of one of our most busy times of ministry as a church.  This physical issues are irritating, and a constant reminder that I am not as young as I used t be.  But serving God by serving others continues to be the thing that I get out of bed in the morning excited about doing!

Last night I watched as so many of our church members gave of themselves to serve God by serving others.  By the end of the night many of us were spent, but we still managed to hang around, joke, kid, laugh and give God the glory!  There is still much ministry to do and there will be plenty of suffering to share, but we will continue to:  “Proclaim Him…  So that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  To this end we labor, struggling with all of His energy, which works so powerfully in us!”  Colossians 1:28-29

I look forward to seeing what God is going to teach me and accomplish in my life through the suffering today!  Oh just in case you need an up side to suffering, here is one more thought:  Have you ever noticed that when you are suffering – you are much more dependent upon God for His strength to get through? 

As we depend on Him – He will use us to bless each other and as we bless each other we will find the fulfillment that will encourage, motivate and push us forward!  God Bless & Keep It Real!