Does it Matter?

It's been a minute since I have been able to take part in helping our with our youth at church. But it's something I enjoy being able to do when able. Sometimes though, it can feel (really any service) like you're just going through the motions. The old question can linger in our minds: "does what I'm doing really matter?"

Well to kick our knees out from under us on the front end, God doesn't NEED any of us. Jesus said that if His disciples went quiet, that the stones would cry out in Luke 19:39-40.

But, God in His grace has chosen to use us as His instruments. Ephesians 4:11-12 spells out some of the positions that God has given to the church. The Bible is full of reference to gifts that believers receive for the use of building up the church.

It's a strange balance; we recognize on one hand that we are expendable, yet on the other we have a privilege and duty to use the gifts He has given us for the building up of the church.

So, does what we do matter? Well, if it fits within the context of what we're called to do and how we're called to do it, absolutely!

And the balance is that it is God who brings the increase as well as gives the gifts. And so none of us can say: "look at what I have done, it's so great!" There's no room for boasting.

All of that to say, when you see the growth in the kids that you're involved in, it's really encouraging to see what God is doing. It is a blessing to see the fruit as it we.

But we don't always get to see that. We don't always get to know in this life that we've had any impact.

I'm not taking any credit for the encouraging things from this evening, my co-teachers do an excellent job and I've hardly been there. But it's still great to see what God is doing in the lives of these young guys.

But I know for me I struggle sometimes not seeing results, especially since I am very much driven by those results at times. As such, it can lead to discontentment, doubts, etc.

Yet, perhaps also in God's mercy, He asks us to simply trust. I won't recite the verse again as I've mentioned it many times in this blog. But, Proverbs 3 speaks on that idea of not relying on our understanding. That verse came up briefly tonight, and unironically fits with this blog. I may not see what God is doing through me, but I am called to trust Him that He is doing something through and in spite of me.

And that is hard for me to swallow. Then again, I'm definitely not God.

Maybe this is partly why Paul had to mention to the Corinthians that neither he nor Apollos were anything, but it was God bringing the increase.

What a strange walk the Christian life is. We put forth the effort, all the while realizing that it's God who is at work within us, enabling us as well as providing the results.

So the question for us then is, can we trust God with those results, even when we can't see them?

Does that alleviate all the doubt and disillusionment? No I suppose it doesn't, because we life in a fallen world and deal with the fallen flesh. But hopefully it'll help to encourage us to know that whether we see it in this life or not, we can know that God will bring about His purposes, and reward each of us accordingly. Of course that results just in further praise of Him, not ourselves, as we realize it is only because of Him that we were able to do anything in this life for Him.