I can't do this.
I don't know if those thoughts run rampant through your mind like a motorcycle racing on a freeway, but they race through my head all the time. Since I started this new job as a "girls' ministry specialist", those thoughts seem to be popping up more often.
Trying to wrap my brain around this massive subculture that is teen girls can be overwhelming. I see so much potential. I see so many needs. I see so many tender hearts and young lives hat the enemy wants to wound and mar and destroy. I see a generation that could literally change the course of our world. How do I reach them? How do I care for them? How do I share the story of God's love in a way that soaks into their souls?
And the thoughts come--I can't do this.
That morning on my commute into work, I glanced over into the next lane and saw and unusual license plate. It simply said this: P 413. I don't know what message the owner of that car was trying to send, but I do know what God was trying to say: Philippians 4:13.
You're right , Pam. You can't do this. You can't reach girls' hearts. But I can. You can't stop the enemy, but I can. You can transform a generation, but I can. On your own, you're in trouble. In me, you can be a part of a grand adventure with these teen girls.
It was a good reminder for me--and hopefully for you, too.
Thanks Pam!! I needed to be reminded that I too "can't do this alone." As a working mother with two small children who lives hundreds of miles from relatives, I too often have such thoughts racing through my head.
Amen Sister! We can't do it without Him. And He never asks us to. Isn't it comforting to know that He loves this generation of girls infinitely more than we do. Nothing they are facing or doing catches Him off guard or makes His jaw drop. We will never come up with an idea to reach them, that He hasn't already conceived. We can't do it without Him. But He never asks us to.
YES! This is true! There are very few days that I don't wake up being attacked in my mind. The inadequacy, the fears, the frustrations that go along with ministry... and yet I know every time I meet with a teen girl that I, like John, am one voice crying out in the wilderness! God has given us all a special calling and a voice! Praise God that HIS WORD will not return void. It's not our job to change these girls, It's our job to continue introducing them to the one that CAN change them, and continuing to know that "I can do all things through Christ who gives me Strength!"