Peace of Christ!
Serving God is such a beautiful thing! Being able to work for Him, whether in His house or anywhere else, encourages our souls.
But I would like to highlight a few points about serving in church.
1 - Tiredness
Life grows busier every day, and time grows scarcer. People are performing more and more activities in shorter periods of time. As a result, we see a generation of exhausted people powered by energy drinks.
And when it comes to doing the Lord's Work, tiredness seems to be tripled. One of the enemy's strategies is to wear out God's children and even use people close to them to repeat phrases such as, "You worked so hard all week. Take today to stay home doing nothing instead of going to church."
PERSIST!
2 - Discouragement
I would like to share an excerpt from a beautiful song:
Tiredness, discouragement
Right after a victory
The mixture of exhaustion and a counterattack by evil
The pain of a loss, or the pain of betrayal
A broken covenant, which is the root of ingratitude
If someone feels this way, pay close attention
Listen to what comes from God's heart
In times of war, never stop fighting
3 - Hands pulling you backward
Do not be deceived: Not everyone at your side, even inside church, will help or encourage you to serve God! This can happen for many different reasons, such as:
- your friend is extremely shy and therefore clings to you, neither participating nor letting you participate, for example, in a ministry;
- your boyfriend or girlfriend always wants to go "out" on the days and at the times of worship services;
- the person has been disappointed by someone or has a negative history in that church and therefore always discourages you from participating;
- the person has a mistaken view of what serving God means and thinks that "clocking in" at church is enough.
So, if you are in a similar situation, pray to God for discernment to overcome inertia, and also to speak with that person and help them take action too!
4 - Lack of recognition
Perhaps this is the most common issue and the one that most often causes people to leave church. I once saw a brother who spent several weeks working hard to build a wall at church, and in the end people, including the ministry leader, only spoke about how the architect had designed everything and forgot about the brother.
Often, or rather almost every time, you will do your best and receive no recognition at all. Do not be sad about this! There is Someone who is always watching you. What matters is that you do it out of love for God rather than for recognition. He knows your heart.
I would like to share another excerpt from a beautiful song:
You are a mirror
that reflects the image of the Lord
do not cry if the world has not yet noticed
It is already enough that God recognizes your worth
5 - Your identity
You thought I was only going to discuss the saddest parts, right?
But I have something I would like to remind you of!
What is your identity?
My identity is: servant of the Lord
Inside the furnace I will show who You are
Being who I am, a faithful worshiper
Not even death will separate us, Lord
Glory to God!
Notice the part about the furnace.
In other words, furnaces will come and we will have to enter them, but God is with us. Regardless of our age, tiredness, lack of people's support and recognition, or distance to church, keep moving forward, because He does not give up on you and has called you to be courageous.
May God bless you!
Wishing you success!
João Victor Dias