Youth Ministry: God's Work
Youth Ministry isn't easy. It's actually quite a lot of work and often times it's just not very rewarding. Sometimes I feel like I put so much work and thought toward a single goal, namely to see students' lives changed by the gospel and to see them truly internalize the message I've been teaching, only to discover that when they leave youth group and get back to their usual routines, they really don't care too much and that the gospel is still just a word to them... But that's not the truth, that's just how it feels and seems sometimes.
The truth is that they are learning even if it doesn't always look that way. They do care even if they don't wear it on their sleeve (or on a T-shirt). And the gospel is working on their hearts because, when the rubber hits the road, it's not my work. Indeed it is God's work and this God--the God revealed in Jesus Christ--is a God who lovingly pursues his people, who passionately seeks them even if they don't particularly care to seek. him.
And thank God for that! Thank God that it's not ultimately my responsibility to create super-christians. And it's a good thing, because I'm just not that persuasive on my own. I merely have the opportunity to introduce people to Jesus and he is persuasive enough on his own.
So God, please continue to persuade your people...even if it's happening beneath the surface. And help me to release my sense of personal responsibility over them. Just keep guiding me and even using me.
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