Overwhelmed By Needs

Many of you have asked me how I can keep going to these places that are filled with so much brokenness, poverty, death, and sadness. Often I am overwhelmed to the point of tears, and am unable to even describe it in words...but a sermon on Psalm 123 has changed my perspective as I live a life of ministry - surrounded by broken people serving broken people in Christ's name. That sermon has become part of my preparation as I head out on a mission trip....kind of like warming up to "Eye Of The Tiger" before basketball games. So, you can be sure that I'm listening to it on my ipod again today as I fly over the Atlantic ocean!

"To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God."
~ Psalm 123:2

In ministry, my tendency is to be overwhelmed by all of the needs around me and to lose sight of the specific call that God has given me in each situation. Yet in the midst of this passage, God taught me that in ministry (whether in Colorado or somewhere else in the world), my eyes are to be on HIM, and that will direct my hands to what they need to be doing. A maidservant doesn't just think about all that needs to be done, but rather she watches and learns about her mistress so she can anticipate the needs and be ready to serve before the mistress even has to speak. In the same way, as my eyes (and mind and heart) are focused on the Lord, I will see how He is at work and how He has gifted and called me to respond and join Him in that work.
This is huge for me in ministry, because when there is always more to do, it gives me freedom to do a few things well and to trust that He is calling others to respond to the overwhelming needs around me. It gives me freedom to say no to the areas that He hasn't called me to serve, so that I can say a better yes to the ones He has. And so my prayer today is that again this week I would be faithful to serve in the specific ways He has called me to serve...and that others would respond in obedience as He calls them to serve to meet the needs that they see around them.