Firemen and Super Heroes

Sometimes ministry gets in the way of serving God. We can become so busy working diligently for God that we fail to here what He is asking us to do. It could be thought of as something like the local Fire Department of a small village. The firemen would all be volunteers. They get together regularly to train. They may occasionally have meetings and training events that they go to in neighboring towns. What good would it do the village to have such a department that diligently filled up their calendar with so many events that they were always away or busy when an actual fire broke out?

It is fine to plan and strategize in ministry, as long as we are aware that ultimately we are not the planners. Our ideas and calendars are always tentative. Flexibility in planning is the key to doing God’s bidding. We need to be available for when we come across something divinely scheduled.

Then there are those people who need to feel like they are doing something crucial for the Kingdom. Every deed in God’s plan is a piece of the puzzle, but some need to feel the hero. Not every fire we see around us needs extinguishing. Are we content to be Clark Kent most of the time, or do we need to create crises around us all the time so that we have something worthwhile to do?

The balance is found in being ever “crisis ready” but not having a case of “crisis addiction.”