A Blank Slate
A blank slate, an open and willing heart and trust – these are the things we can bring to God.
There are times when I’m confident in a direction God is leading and ready to do work. And there are other times when I am willing to do work and eager to start but unclear on the specific work to do.
As we gathered together to seek God’s leading and plan for the new fiscal year for a new ministry we were fiercely aware of the long list of unknowns.
The season of beginning is a blank slate.
There is no routine to follow but only to be established. We carefully carved out time to plan all the details and wondered how God was going to lead. He had planted a calling in the hearts of our team to begin a ministry. He guided us through our organizational structure and formation and now the day finally arrived to plan the real work of the ministry.
We gathered in worship and surrender to his leadership. We pressed into his promise to be a light to our path. With trust in our hearts for the calling he had given, we prayerfully stepped into this planning season, anticipating his faithfulness. Item by item we watched in awe as he revealed a plan.
He inspired us with scripture and intricately wove the pieces together for us to follow. We experienced moments of gratitude and inadequacy. In our hearts we worked to balance between trusting in him and also daring to believe it was all even possible.
None of us had ever really done anything like this before…
So we were stepping together into faith and out of our comfort zones. 2 Corinthians 12:7 says, “…Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me…” The thorns in our flesh were fear, weakness, inexperience among others. But in our hearts God assured us with verse 9 that His grace was sufficient for us and his power would be made perfect in our weakness.
I am looking forward to the day when we can stand and look back at what God has done and give him praise. Today my heart is filled with gratitude and faith as we boast in these weaknesses and anticipate his glory. We don’t really know what we are doing, but as 2 Timothy 1:12 says, we know in whom we have believed and are persuaded that HE is able to guard what has been entrusted to us.
We lay down this ministry at his feet with open and willing hearts and with trembling we step in obedience to follow the plan he has faithfully and beautifully laid out before us. May we always remember our insufficiency to accomplish anything worthwhile without him. May our hearts always delight in his word. May he always remain the center of this ministry.