David La Cagnina sent a link to the music team the week preceding the second Sunday of Epiphany that, in a really humorous way, emphasized this statement that God equips the called. That Sunday Fr. James preached on God’s call to Samuel and then challenged our church body to really discover what areas of ministry we are called to. During this season of Lent, as we prepare to start a new chapter in the life of SOC, what ministry/ministries are we called to?

 

At this time music ministry is the area that I am most called to even though I am not a particularly talented vocalist/musician. I have been called to music ministry at different times and situations over the years as an adult believer. My call to the music team at SOC was different. In the past I was asked to participate by a leader of the team. This time I felt called to go to the leader and ask if I was needed. It took me a while to respond. If I recall, I prayed about it for about a year. Was this really a calling or just my wanting to sing? (I do love to sing.) I didn’t want to impose or make anyone uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be given a yes answer just because I asked.

 

One of the questions we are to answer in this devotional is what are the spiritual results of this ministry commitment? Well for me asking David if I could be part of the music team definitely took me out of my personal comfort zone. God equips the called. I definitely spend more time in God’s word as a result of my participation. Increased prayer time has been a natural outcome of my preparation for both rehearsal times and Sunday worship.

 

Another question we are to answer is what was the impact of my participation in ministry on my family with regards to their spiritual growth. The answer to that question has been more difficult to answer. I decided I needed to have conversation with my children and my husband to get that answer. The common theme in their answers were that overall the impact of my participation in ministry has had a positive influence on them spiritually. My children desired to and did participate in various church ministries because of that influence. My middle child especially has developed a heart for service. The other common theme was that, at times, I was out of balance or “biting off more than I could chew.” Those conversations prompted me to really consider my decision-making with regards to ministry participation when I was raising my children, being a helpmate for my husband and working outside of the home. Did I, at times, neglect the priority of ministry to my husband and children to do “work” at the church? The difficult answer to that question is yes I did. Why did that happen? I neglected to spend adequate time in prayer and discernment when deciding to become involved in a particular ministry. Including my husband and children in the process should have happened more often than it did. Now that I am older and more mature, prayer, discernment and discussion with Pete is a given, but I wish that spiritually maturity could have occurred sooner than it did. Finding that balance between our ministry to family and church is tricky but I believe that God is faithful and will guide us when we ask. The point is that we have to ask!

 

Looking forward I continue to seek God’s guidance with regards to ministry participation both within our church community and outside of it. God has an opportunity to “grow us up” when we participate in ministry both in and out of our church community. If you haven’t participated in a spiritual gifts survey consider doing so. It can open your eyes to new possibilities that you might not have considered before. As we go through the season of Lent I pray that each of us will seek God’s plan for our participation in ministry to His service. Amen!

 

 

Libby King