Half Time - Part 3

Final installment, the encouragement!

Go make the second half of this ministry year better than the first half! How do you do that? Draw closer to Jesus. I know that sounds like a 'preacher answer,' but I'm serious (and I'm a preacher, so...). The truth is, the closer we get to Jesus, the clearer we can hear Him and the more confident we can be that we're in the right place, no matter how it looks. It's like the game plan of a football game. If the plan is sound, even when the score is against you, if you stick to the plan, the outcome will swing in your favor. I was on a team in college that had the biggest second half comeback in NAIA history, and it happened because the coach stuck to the game plan.

Our game plan is simple: stay close to Jesus. When Jesus moves, we move. When Jesus lingers, we linger. That's the plan. The closer we get to Jesus, the more sure we can be that we're where we're supposed to be. That confidence can lead us to make great moves of faith, because we can know that the circumstances don't dictate our success or failure. Success is sticking close to Jesus, no matter what the economy does, what other people do, what health crisis or relationship crisis or job change or personal betrayal comes into our lives. Failure is not sticking close to Jesus for whatever reason. There never is a good reason to pull away from Jesus. Never.

I've been afraid of so many things in my life and in my ministry. I've been afraid of people leaving the church, of not making the payroll, of people not liking me, of preaching a great message and following it up with a flop, and so many other things. But what I've been hearing from God these last several months is that the closer I am to Jesus, the more I spend time in His presence in prayer and in the Word, the more confidence I can have that none of these things can or will change the ultimate outcome of my life. No one leaving the church will effect the call God has on my life. No one criticizing me will alter God's plan. No financial dip, no stinker of a sermon will change how God feels about me, nor will it change God's plans for me. And the closer I am to Jesus, the more I connect to what He's doing in and through me.

So the encouragement for the second half: GO OUT THERE AND STAY CLOSE TO JESUS!!