Two weeks ago school started again in St. Vincent. As children excitedly went to meet their friends and new teachers, the Lord burdened my heart for those who need extra help with reading.
This is actually a burden that’s been with me for the last four years since many children in SVG struggle with reading, since there isn’t a lot of one-on-one help for them. The size of classes, as well as lack of staff makes this almost impossible.
the interesting thing is I clearly knew God had placed this burden upon my heart
But I didn’t want to act on it
Because in the past my attempts at reading help hadn’t been very successful.
This lack of success wasn’t because I wasn’t trying. It was due to the fact that my time and energy is understandably limited, there are so many children in need, and the reading levels of children are of course different. So the reading help sessions though good, didn’t make as much of an impact as I wanted.
While putting up flyers for upcoming reading sessions Satan gave me every reason not to try
- You didn’t see results last time!
- There are too many children in need!
- You don’t have the time or energy to create sessions for each child’s reading level!
- Not many people are interested!
There will always be times when even though we try, things don’t go as planned. So we must remember a simple, but profound truth
Practice Makes Perfect!
This basic principle affects almost every area of our lives. From sports, to hobbies, or learning how to do something new. You cannot expect to be amazing at something the first time you do it!!
The interesting thing is we completely understand this is true about most areas of life
but struggle to understand it’s true for ministry.
Because Satan hates the work of God, he wants to discourage it. So when things don’t go right the first or second time he tells us “it is a complete failure.” And our hearts will believe this if we aren’t careful, which leads to giving up.
Thankfully in those moments God reminds us of His grace.
Ministry isn’t about being perfect (it never really will be) it’s about being faithful. It’s about continuing to practice and get better at the call of God upon our lives.
And as we continue to practice ministry faithfully, God gets the Glory
Johnhwilburn.com 
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