Let’s just be honest – ministry is hard. No matter your role, there will be a day (or days) that you want to quit whatever it is that you’re doing because it’s just plain hard. Ministry requires a lot, and teen girls are in a stage of life where they need a lot from you.
Here’s my encouragement to you today: Be faithful where you are.
Until God calls you elsewhere or clearly closes the door, be faithful where you are. In most cases, it’s easier to leave. It’s easier to make a list of reasons why it’s time to leave, and why you just can’t be there any longer. Maybe it’s a leadership issue, maybe you don’t feel heard, or maybe you just don’t think you can do it anymore.
Have you thought about how your leaving affects people other than you? How will it affect the Student Ministry where you serve? What will the girls you’ve been investing in think? Are you able to articulate the “why” behind the fact that you’re stepping away or leaving?
I’m not trying to convince you to stay in a bad or hard situation, but I want to encourage you to be confident that God is calling you away before you leave. Often, when things aren’t going our way, we want to cut and run, but this can put us in a position of disobedience much quicker than we think.
I’ve walked through a couple of seasons of life and ministry where I was ready to go, but God didn’t give me the green light to make a move. I had told myself (and several friends) that I thought God was preparing me for a change, but he wasn’t. When I thought I might be leaving, I started to disconnect, and it hurt my ministry. I wasn’t fully present, and it wasn’t fair to my church, the girls I was pouring into, and the team I served alongside. Even if you know that God is moving you, be faithful where you are until it’s time to go.
I love the Parable of the Talents that we find in Matthew 25:14-30. God asks us to make much of what He has given us, and not to sit on our hands when there is work to be done. God has entrusted you to at least one teenage girl that needs you to make much of what God has called you to do until he calls you away. Friend, don’t lose heart when things are hard. Listen for God’s voice and trust his timing and movement. You’ll never regret waiting on God.
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.” (Luke 12:48 CSB)