I love teaching Gospel Doctrine! I'm really enjoying being a den leader, especially since it gives me time with my son. Yet, I have been so often overwhelmed. Consequently, I feel like my SS lesson preparation has suffered, as has the planning of den meetings. Is it all too much?
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul likens our bodies to the Church. In verse18, we learn that God has put the body together as he wants it. In other words, God has put us in our Church service where he wants us.
I must be in the right place, then.
This was confirmed to me a few weeks ago when a sweet member of my Sunday School class listened to the promptings of the spirit. She mailed me a simple thank you note--she didn't just tell me in Church, but took the time to write, address, stamp, and mail a note--telling me how much she learned from my lessons. I started to cry. Maybe, even through all my stress and feelings of a lack of preparation, I'm where the Lord wants me to be. Maybe he is still using me to build his kingdom.
And through it all, I receive an added gift. I feel his spirit carrying me through my lesson presentations. The Lord is making up the difference. I'm giving him my all, which is less than at other times in my life but still my all, and he's making it grand. The Lord is teaching my lessons. I'm just his instrument.
I still feel overwhelmed. But it's nice to be reassured that I'm where the Lord wants me.
By the way, here's something fun I learned while studying:
Earlier in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul is likening the positions and assignments of Church members to our bodies. Before he does that though, he talks about gifts of the spirit. He says that there are differences of administrations. I love to look at other meanings in Greek for various NT words. For that reason, I love to read the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible sometimes. I really like the NIV wording for that verse and one one following it, verses 5-6: "there are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of workings [or possibly activities or tasks], but the same God works all of them in all men."
I've wondered about the phrase "differences of administrations" too. I just looked up the word for administration/service. It's διακονεω (diakoneo), the same word from which we get deacon, and which is used in Matt. 8:15 "she arose, and ministered unto them." Minister and administer have shifted slightly in meaning since the KJV was published. It's always interesting how studying the scriptures in a foreign language or with a different translation can help to uncover the nuances of English words we thought we knew.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insight, Brett! It makes the meaning of the word deacon more, well, meaningful!
ReplyDeleteLove this, and I have felt exactly the same way. I teach RS and one of the sisters came into my work the other day and told me how much she loves my lessons and my blog. she said she reads everyday and that she is so uplifted and it has helped her with all her trials in the past couple of months. I have decided that we never know when or how the Lord will use us for His purposes, we just have to trust Him to help us do what we need to do. Love, love, love your insights today.
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