More on Ministry… Some more thoughts on ministry! The poor are not always meant to be fed by us! Father is always feeding them, but not always through us. Our ministry cannot be led by other’s needs, it must be led by Him. We are not healers, He is! If He wants to heal someone through us and our own gifts, then that will flow out of our relationship. He will tell us, hey, I want to teach you something about Myself through your helping of this person or that place. We move in that same way Jesus did while on earth—we try to only do what we see our Master doing. When we do, we meet and get to know Him through helping others! We do not get thrown off by ministering to others, because it is no longer out of our own soul power, but flowing out of our relationship with Him. “He is the third between us and other’s needs!” In order to truly bless the poor sometimes, we are lead to be heading towards the Cross (our own healing) instead, or Jerusalem (knowing who we truly are in Him), or to partner with Him in whatever way He is leading. This isn’t easy for those who feel called to, and constantly aware of, and sensitive to those in need around them. And yet, as many who are truly led by Him are becoming the sons and daughters. We are those who regardless of our gifts and sensitivities are meant to be led by His Spirit in blessing others. When Jesus was on earth, He did not just go heal everyone, He sat with His Father and waited to see what part He was meant to download in each situation. That’s our model. There are many needs around us daily, but we are the ones who are meant to meet Him through all we do. As one minister put it: “We cannot be guided by other’s needs. We must be led by the Father to move in Jesus’ way. It is easy to think that our gifts can be applied anywhere, harder to let them be used with and in Him to give Himself to others. Once we realize our gifts, we want to give them everywhere at once, but Jesus model is to offer them over and again to His Father, and say, where would You like to plant my gifts today.” That’s the practice. The poor will be with us always, the needs of others will never end, but we are those led by the Father, and becoming the Sons and Daughters of the Most High. We try, in Him, to only do what we see the Father doing, regardless of needs around us—this is a real challenge for those of us who are able to sense the needs of others around us; yet, we too, must be led by the Father. One sign of this, is when we are actually meeting God and amazed by Him and His Ways as we give to those in need (which, in the end, we all are!) If Jesus would have ministered only to needs, He would have never made it to the Cross. He cared, but was not distracted by all the wounded souls around Him. He knew, if He followed the Father, He would end up blessing all of them in the end. When we meet God in helping others, it is symbiotic-we are mutually blessed! Us, by experiencing how amazing the Father is in His nuanced kindness to each person, and those we bless in Him, in how remarkably concerned He is with both of us. Ministry is a mutual blessing. It transforms all involved, in a way which makes us all mutually amazed by Him! And His Burden is light to us. He shares a moment of the weight, so we realize what He Himself is carrying. But we are not meant to carry it! I have a friend who told me, “I used to get depressed after helping others. I was carrying their needs and bearing their burdens: then, i realized that He was the only one who could do that, and I got freed up to get to know Him through helping others. It was a big breakthrough for me in understanding how Jesus and I are meant to work together! I don’t have to heal others. He does. What I get to do, is partner and facilitate His presence into each situation, and watch Him do it, and be co-amazed with the other person, at how deep and thorough His Love is!”