Working in Youth Ministry is more than a job, it's a life, head ache, a heart ache, and about the best job that anyone can have. When I decided to make the uncommon move from working in "adult" ministry to "youth" ministry it was in some ways like jumping from the edge of a cliff, once you jump there is little control left over the direction you choose.
In some degree I feel like Steve McQueen in Magnificent Seven, when sharing about a guy falling from a ten story building. Each floor the guy passed people could hear him saying "So far so good". So far so good.
I have unfortunately never been skydiving but I already know the feeling. The feeling of letting go control, giving yourself to the air, and feeling more alive than you have before. I know the feeling because that is exactly how walking with God feels.
It really doesn't feel like a walk most days it feels like a flight. Or even more accurately it feels like a pattern of flying and falling. At moments you feel on top of the world, gazing at the wonder beneath, and moments later you are plummeting back to earth. The thing that only experience with God can teach you, the thing I didn't understand 100 battles or so ago, is that we can enjoy even the falling.
Even speeding towards the ground at a mile a minute we can breath deep, and enjoy, cause God is gonna catch us every time. He always does, and always has, always will. Some people try to fight the fall when things start to go wrong. They stay crashing toward earth like before but now they are flapping their arms wildly as if they may be able to reverse the gravitational pull of the earth. All that happens instead is they start spinning out of control like someone who jumped out of a plane but forgot a parachute.
God is our parachute. He is our safety net, keeping us assured we won't hit the ground. There is nothing more beautiful then a skydiver who knows what he's doing. He is like a ballerina of the air, enjoying the decent. Why wouldn't we be just as confident in our parachute? After all, there is no margin of error when it comes to God's faithfulness.
- R. Daniel Demsick
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this experience. I am taking my second crack at youth ministry and rekindling my love for leading youth. My first experience was... heartbeaking to say the least. I also work with the homeless and the two ministries are different worlds no doubt. I look forward to reading more posts! Thank you
Thanks George! It is sad just how much heart break is involved with not only youth ministry but ministry in general. I am sure you know this and I am sure you also know just how rewarding it can be as well. We are lucky to have a savior who comforts us in the heart break and rejoices with us in the victories. Thanks so much for your support!
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