Serving God when it’s difficult

Hey y’all, sometimes it’s easy to idolize those who go to really difficult and dark places and I’ll have to admit I used to be one of those people also.  I admit also though that I will probably never really know how hard it is in those places and how dark it is but it can be hard doing ministry y’all and hard serving sometimes no matter where you are. When you are willing to serve God and live your all for Him the devil doesn’t like it and I don’t think he wants to make it easy.  When you are in ministry people watch you closer.  I was reminded in my class today with Dr. Evan Lenow that that’s when you need to make sure you are walking in the ways of God so that even your enemies cannot say anything against you.  When you are in ministry it can be discouraging and depressing sometimes. Maybe you are just starting out in a church and not as many people are as involved as you thought should be or maybe you are going to a church that has been around for a while and the members there are just stuck in a rut.  It can be hard to continue to do the same things all the time when you might not feel you are seeing a result but let me tell you when you are faithful serving God when in the small things it is worth it!  It is always worth it serving God! He is always worth it!!! Ministry can be hard but it is also joyful.  It is so good when God takes what happens to you with good or bad and uses it to help you become more like Christ!  Maybe this is what it means in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 when it says in all things give thanks! We can always be thankful for everything no matter good or bad because God is using it for our good and He is using it to make us more like Christ! Let’s run this race together giving thanks in all things!