I love my church and I've always longed to serve in some way. There are a lot of opportunities and over they years we've had more and more people willing to serve and it has been such an encouragement. A few months ago, there was an opportunity to serve with the youth and our leader was replaced by 4 of us. More like three of us, since one went away for studies.
It has been quite difficult getting the young ones to respond to weekly meetings. In our first meeting no one turned up, though it could have been due to the timing of the meeting than anything else but still it was very discouraging. We just played a few songs and worshipped, all three of us. It was good worship but still. As I thought of what we could have done better, and ways we can improve, another thought came into my mind; maybe I've bitten more than I can chew again. Maybe I've made another impulsive decision before thinking it through. Nobody likes to look bad and sometimes we don't persist with things because we don't look good straight away.
There was also another thought, far better than the previous. More like reminders; don't despise the day of small beginnings. Sometimes nothing happens until we pray. There was also the question, how much do you want to make a difference?
I saw a quote on Facebook the other day "Vegetarians make bad hunters". And for me, it was probably a test of commitment. I don't have to try hard to come up with excuses why I don't want to do this. And if I decide that I made a mistake and back off, no one would hold it against me but is that what I really want?
It was not coincidence that the message in church the next Sunday was on Faith. And I learned that God is not impressed by your good behaviour, but Faith gets God's attention. And Faith must be progressive, not passive. This changed my thinking and removed the burden on me. Now its not up to me whether it works or not. All I have to do is play my role and trust that its important enough to God to make things work out.
Last Saturday we went from Zero to Two people. A far cry from the numbers we should have but don't despise small beginnings. Everything that is big was once small. For me its a great encouragement. Next week we'll be having an outing, and most of the Curtin students will be back so there will be more people. Sometimes, merely being willing is not enough.
-ONWARD!