Full of It

This past Sunday, I spoke on being full of God, letting the LOGOS of God to fill us fully. I was working on the next part of the Logos series today and dealing with the people issues that are part of church. Dealing with people can be very draining at times. Many people's approach to church is one of sitting back and waiting for you to figure things out. They won't tell you they are hurt. They will sit quietly and nurse the hurt and then they will add hurt to it if people didn't notice. They won't just step up, be up front and share their hurt. Then there are some who will be very friendly out in front, but when you inevitably find out what is being said around the back...ouch. It is this sort of thing that can really discourage pastors and other workers in the church. Those who serve can sometimes reach the point of exhaustion and/or frustration and even become disillusioned. There have been pastors who have left the ministry because of the toll this sort of thing takes. As I was feeling a touch of emotional weariness today, I was also listening to Sunday's message and allowing the word to speak to me. God asked me what I was trying to be full of. Do I seek to be full of Him, or full of the fun of serving Him? It is an important distinction. There are parts of ministry that are a lot of fun. There are times of joy and fulfillment as you see people grow in the Lord, take Him seriously and do things Biblically. There are those times of joy when things really go "well". The problem comes when that becomes what I get full of instead of just being full of my relationship with God apart from the ministry. I think many of us in Christian service, whether we are professional or laity, can start seeking to be full of serving God instead of full of God Himself. Then, when serving Him becomes hard, or hurts, we start feeling empty and drained. Weary. As I look at the things that I must do as a minister of God, I must go back to Him directly and serve out of my love and obedience to Him. I need to allow Him to fill me up out of my personal walk and relationship with Him, not out of the ministry He does through me. An important distinction.