Good morning
Zebras,
I love you so
much and the day I’ve been waiting for has arrived.
Yesterday, on Facebook, only
four people liked the post. (Thank you, Nancy,
for sharing it and confirming it was an “awesome word” from God.)
Contrast that
with the over thirty people who “liked” the picture of my dog.
That is the
perfect illustration of how we have ended up with teaching that tickles our
ears. It’s partly our fault. Light and fluffy is what makes us hit the “like”
button.
People respond
to positive encouragement and if they are getting their encouragement from
people they are either going to do what people want or get discouraged when
they don’t. Which is all bad when we are
talking about ministry.
But if the people
doing ministry have finally freed themselves of the trap of being “liked” and
are getting their encouragement from God, they’re going to joyfully keep going
until God tells them to stop.
I have done
both and can tell you without a shadow of doubt the second way is way better!
Ten years ago,
I was facilitating a Precepts Bible Study.
Precepts takes a lot of work but most of the people who signed up didn’t
know that, they signed up because they heard me speak at a tea and thought I
was funny.
Thirty plus
people started, twenty people soon dropped.
It was hard on me, because even though I was doing what I knew God
wanted me to do, I still wanted people to “like” me and come.
I remember painfully
asking my friend Karen, “When can I stop doing this?” And she said, “When absolutely no one shows
up and God tells you to stop.”
That was the
beginning of learning to work for God instead of for people. Yesterday was my final exam and I passed. In the past being “liked” by only four of you would
have crushed me, but it didn’t!
I love all of
you and I will continue to do this, whether you “like” it or not until God
tells me to stop.
Have a wonderful,
wonderful Saturday little Zebras living free from sin, guilt, and the desire to
please men.
Love,
Jill
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