Focus
Posted on July 17, 2008, by jane broe, under church.
I don’t know about you, but I often find myself being so busy going through my day–taking care of priorities, checking off my “to do” list, whittling away at the piles on my desk, that I can easily forget why I’m doing what I’m doing.
God taps me on the shoulder several times a day to say “Remember me? Remember what I have called you to do?” Then my head spins for a few minutes as I realize and dwell on what a privilege it is to get to serve Him doing what I love to do. He has called me to use my gifts to help with the work that He wants done here through our ministry at Life Church–wow!
You would think that serving in full-time ministry you would have your focus right 100% of the time. Well, I’m here to tell you that it isn’t quite that easy–it’s not automatic. Ministry is a busy life and it can be easy to get “task oriented”, “goal oriented”, “numbers oriented” instead of “kingdom oriented”.
Some things that we do at the office to help us stay focused and ”kingdom oriented” are: We pray together several times a week and before our worship services. We pray for direction from God as we lead His church, we pray for the needs of our church family, for our pastors and staff and their families, for our community and for everyone that walks through our doors. We start every meeting in prayer and ask God to be in the middle of our conversation. For me, probably most important is my private personal time with God every morning. This morning, He spoke to me through Proverbs 16:2-3, “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” I always want the motives of my heart and my focus to be on God and His Kingdom.
Like Pastor John taught us in his message last Sunday from Paul’s letter to the Galations, 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men I would not be a servant of Christ.”
No matter how busy we are, if we keep our focus on serving Him, we experience more joy than you could ever imagine.
Honored to serve,
Jane Broe, Executive Assistant
5 Replies to "Focus"
Melissa Vanderburg on July 18, 2008
Jane, we all appreciate your hard work. The Lord sees all the small things you do for Him and He is glad. You are an amazing example of a servant. Thanks for the great reminder; to stay focused on Him. I need that today. Love you!!!
alex mclean on July 20, 2008
Jane, that is some powerful stuff. People often say that “working” for the church is a very delicate balance, and you pointed that out with this post. That’s why it’s so important to stay focused on our vision, and at the end of the day what we do must be intentional to reach that vision - to follow God’s call on our church to reach people. It’s also important for us to “pray without ceasing” and have our staff covered in prayer!
Danny on July 21, 2008
Awesome stuff Jane!!! Thank you so much for your wise words!
Women In Ministry | A Shift? - betterthanblank on September 3, 2008
[...] them: Anne Jackson, Jenni Catron, Tam Hodge (hope that’s right), Kem Meyer, Kendra Watson, Jane Broe (you can only catch her every once in a while on our church blog), and of course, oh wait (my wife [...]
Kendra on July 18, 2008
“I always want the motives of my heart and my focus to be on God and His Kingdom.” Such an encouragement this morning Jane and definitely the desire of my heart too. I really need to remember that, “No matter how busy we are, if we keep our focus on serving Him, we experience more joy than you could ever imagine.”