Remember the old saying, “April showers bring May flowers”? There are a couple of principles it conjures up in my mind. These principles are a good idea to remember as you are seeking to remain strong in the calling from God on your life.

May Flowers

It’s satisfying to see a healthy garden of flowers springing up from the earth. We want to breathe in the fragrance and take pictures of them with our macro lens and post to our Instagram account. We long to cut a few and put them in a vase on our dinner table.

But flowers don’t happen overnight. Neither do results of our ministry. We long to see that one person see the light and commit their lives to Christ. We long to see our church’s finances reach of level, any level, above survival. We long to see more attendance at our Sunday celebrations. But these results, like flowers, require fertilizer, pruning, waiting, and rain.

April Showers

Don’t know about you, but in Ohio where I live, there are a fair amount of rainy days. We consider them gloomy. We can’t do everything we want to do outside. It’s hard to have a cookout. It’s hard to cut the grass. It’s hard to throw the frisbee with the dog when it’s raining. We simply have to wait until the rain stops.

Same thing goes for those rainy days in ministry. Although you may be chomping at the bit to see the fruit of your labors in your church, you may just have to wait.  Flowers aren’t as brilliant without the seasons of rain. It may look like nothing is happening on the surface, but in the soil of the work of the Spirit, there is an epic struggle taking place. As we faithfully do our part in the garden of souls, His Spirit is bringing about the fruit.

Are you struggling with patience in your ministry efforts? If so, send me a text (330.540.0700). I’d love to be praying with you and your calling.

 

Strongology. It’s a way of life for the ministry leader that yields consistency of Full Engagement, Maximum Performance, and Sustained Health. Take a moment this month to open the hood of your life and check the engine. What’s inside? Click to see a Prezi diagram

There are four primary cylinders to your personal Strongology:

1) Your walk with Christ

A strong ministry leader is a dependent and desperate leader under the rule and grace of Jesus Christ. The relationship is intimate and organic. This requires an investment of time and energy. Too often our “work for the Lord” becomes a barrier to simply sitting at Jesus’ feet and learning and growing.

Do you have a dynamic walk with Jesus today?

2) Your life plan

Everybody has a life plan. Not everybody focuses in on it and makes it work for them. You are made up of a set of roles and commitments. For example, your life may include roles like Spouse, Parent, Pastor, Sibling, etc. Your life will likely include commitments like Financial, Physical, Emotional, etc.  A life plan is taking each area of your life, accessing them, and coming up with a next step or two in bringing the assessment up.

Do you have a life plan?

3) Your accountability network

Strong leaders have crutches. No mistake about it. The minute you think you can lead on your own is the minute you begin your descent. No one (let me repeat that). No.One is immune to things like sloth, moral failure, unproductivity, carnality. We need a couple of relationships with whom we are totally free to share everything without fear of condemnation. These relationships must also be the kind that care enough to push back on you.

Do you have an accountability network?

4) Your set of techniques

Strong leaders employ a handful of techniques that ensure a consist level of productivity. A tip here, a trick there. A method for handling the email flow. A way of grouping errands to avoid multiple trips to town. A streamlined way of prepping for the Sunday’s message. These are all ways of making the most of the time and energy God gives us each day.

Do you have a set of techniques in your arsenal?

I’m curious to know how you are coming with your personal Strongology. If you are interested in taking a 3-minute anonymous survey,

CLICK HERE 

Kids tend to push the limits growing up, don’t they? It’s like they want to mature at their own speed. Yet we know as parents they are simply not ready for the stages to which they strive. It’s like they try so hard to pull the proverbial plant up out of the ground without giving it a chance to mature and develop in its time.

Speaking of plants, consider the apple. I found a cute little rhyme for preschoolers (sing it to the tune of the itsy-bitsy spider):

Once a little apple seed was planted in the ground
Down came the raindrops, falling all around.
Out came the big sun, bright as bright could be
And that little apple seed grew to be an apple tree!

Rain. Sun. Time.

God uses the bad times, the good times, and the just-plain boring times to mold us and shape us into who he wants us to be. But how often do we try with our own muscle and strategy to grow too far too soon? Ever get your spiritual cart before the horse and wonder how you got there? Me too.

Don’t get me wrong. Reading, studying, practicing – these are all ingredients in a healthy, vibrant personal growth recipe. But are you staying close enough to the Son to let him grow you in his time? Or are you trying too hard? If your efforts are making you cranky, it’s a good sign you are ahead of God. God doesn’t produce cranky fruit.

It’s March 1. We are all bearing down on the Spring season. As you watch the green shoots lift up out of the ground and watch trees and flowers begin to blossom, think about the apple. Think about your personal growth. Think about God and his perfect timing. Then stay in sync with him.

Finish this sentence:

God speaks to us through __________________.