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A Christian ministry is not to be a position to aspire for or a profession to make a living from. It is a service to people that God entrusts His people with. In the body of Christ, everyone is given a ministry to serve one another (1Co.12:6,7). Some of these ministries are public and prominent, but most of them are small and usually unnoticed except by those who are blessed by them. There are many who do things for others in secret, and many times those who receive the blessings are not even aware who their benefactors were. But every ministry has its value before God.

It is not for us to choose the ministry we would like to have. God chooses how He wants to use each one of us (1Co.12:11). We are tempted to choose prominence and power through 'ministry'. But if we go according to our desires, we may end up in failure, frustration and confusion. When God gives us a task to carry out, He also empowers us accordingly. Our natural abilities are not always a sure guide to our ministry. But we will get to know what God wants from us when we surrender ourselves to Him.

A ministry usually gets 'born' in our hearts over a period of time. The conception shows up with a burden for some need in others that we observe. This concern increases as time goes on, and it bothers us so much that we start praying for the need we see. God trains us in many ways, and then opens doors for us to minister. The beginning is usually small.

See how it went with Nehemiah. He was a cupbearer to the king when Judah was in exile in Babylon. One day he heard that the people left in Jerusalem were in great distress and that the walls of the city were broken. This news made him so sad that he wept, fasted and prayed for several days. Remember he was in the palace, living in luxury and the problems of Jerusalem did not actually hurt him personally. But Nehemiah was concerned for his brothers who were going through distress, and that concern was so strong that it led him to fasting and praying. In the end he asked the king if he could go to Jerusalem and rebuild it. The cupbearer became a construction supervisor, and more importantly, a key person in the restoration of the people of God.

Just as Nehemiah faced opposition, we too may come across hindrances or opposition as we commence our ministry. Opposition does not necessarily show that we have made a mistake. If we know that it is God who has given us this task, we can stand without giving up. In the meantime, we can learn how to serve with greater wisdom, tact and better understanding of the people we are dealing with. Not everyone can understand what we do, and they may ask us to do things their way. This gives us scope to get back to God and learn from Him. There is wisdom we can learn from others, but we must not at the same time give up the uniqueness of our ministry. God gives each of us a different task. A large part of our growth comes from learning from ministering to others.

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