The Frontline Ministry

I've got lots of friends down front. They are in the trenches of ministry, doing the hard things that no one else wants to do. These men and women aren't getting all the press. They aren't receiving medals or lots of accolades, but they are indeed great warriors. They are doing the work of the Gospel. Loving men and women and children in the name of Jesus in hopes that they might say yes to Christ's incredible invitation to receive His forgiveness and live eternally with Him. They are literally binding up wounds, touching the poor, caring for the homeless, ministering to broken families, caring for little children, writing words of hope to the hopeless, challenging the wayward, teaching truth, feeding the hungry, singing songs of healing and hope, and spurring on the believer.

Sometimes, if I'm honest, I have a tendency to get a little jealous of their position. I know they would laugh at reading that because the places these men and women serve, the things God has asked them to do are hard. They are lonely. And they are often done without thanks or recognition. But oftentimes I long to have the impact I see these men and women making. I want to make a difference in what really matters - the matters of eternal life and death - the things that will far outlive us all.

But you know what? This morning as I was thinking about that, wishing I had a place on the frontline, God showed me something. If we are His, we are all on the frontline of ministry. There is no back of the pack file pusher. There is no overlooked wayside wanderer. God has work prepared for each one of us to do. And His Word tells us it was prepared in advance.

My frontline may not look like what the world (even the church world) defines as frontline ministry. And that's the rub. I think that's where the enemy corners us many times. We simply overlook the importance of where God has us. We fail to trust the sovereignty of His hand in knowing the lives He longs for us to impact. We are looking for platforms and avenues, when we are standing on and in them. And as we sit, idly wondering when our day will come, we are missing the opportunities of the days in front of us, the ones passing by under our noses. May it be so no longer. May you and I wake up to see that there is no ministry too small.

So where does God have you and me? What is our frontline? Is it your family? your neighborhood? Your office? Do not doubt God's ability to do mighty things right there in your backyard. He finds every life precious and is not willing that any should perish. Don't lay idle in your calling simply because your "mission field" looks differently than you would define it or envision it. Step up to your frontline and reach out to the lost and the hurting all around you. Minister boldly and intentionally with dynamic and authentic love and compassion.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.