Has it been worth it?
I know that often in ministry we’re tempted to wonder, “Is it all worth it?” We wonder just how many people are really engaging with the ministry, how many lives are being truly challenged and changed etc.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I had one of those blessed moments when God allows you to get a glimpse into what he is doing behind the regular smiles and niceties that are so often a part of our normal engagement with people.
At the end of three hours of lectures on missions, we concluded with the usual brief prayer of thanks to God as I commended the students to grace of God. However, after the prayer, one of the students wanted to share how God had been challenging her and growing her through this course of study. It was a touching moment as she shared candidly and honestly about her own journey of faith and how God had used this particular subject to challenge and sharpen her commitment to Christ and had given her further clarity about his calling upon her life. I was delighted!
But, then to my surprise, another student wanted to open up and share. His testimony was equally powerful and moving. And it didn’t stop there. All of a sudden, one by one, just about every student in the class shared their own stories of God’s challenging and transforming work in their lives. I drank it all in with a quiet whisper of gratitude to God. But just when I thought it was all over, the students decided that they wanted to share in a time of prayer as they prayed for one another and celebrated God’s good work of grace in their lives.
Now, I’m not saying this kind of thing happens every week. But it did serve to remind me of the enormous privilege we, here at the college have, as year by year we pour our hearts and lives into the hundreds of students that God entrusts to our care.
But can I say, wherever God has called you to invest, keep faithfully pouring your lives into others. You may not always see the immediate fruit for your labours. But I am reminded of the words of the apostle Paul in Galatians 6:9, when he said, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” The truth is, we may never get to see the extent of the harvest in this life, but eternity will reveal the full measure of all that God has been pleased to do through the lives, ministry and witness of his faithful servants.
It is worth it!
Peter Francis (Principal)
