How experienced are you at identifying ministry needs and opportunities in your church? If you look around, there are people in your church fellowship today that need ministry. There are widows and widowers that are grieving and need encouragement and a voice of hope. There are new people in the church that need relationships. They need someone to reach out and help them build a bridge from being a new member to being a cared-for member. There are children and students who don’t receive much spiritual food from home and they need mentors. There are single moms that need help with car and household repairs. There are senior adults that need companionship and to know life hasn’t passed them by. There are classes that need teachers, ball teams that need coaches and the list could go on and on.

What can we do?

Seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38

Our culture continues to shift away from the things of God. Godlessness is all around us. Students face it in the classroom. Adults face it in the workplace. The news is filled with stories of lostness and lawlessness. I confess, at times, I feel frustrated, annoyed and angry. But this is quite the opposite response from what Jesus displayed. Jesus felt compassion when he saw the people, and challenges us to follow Him.

We are a busy culture. We make plans, trips, reservations which creates calendars full of one activity after another. We have established a pace that is not sustainable and leads to exhaustion and burnout.

How can we know what God’s will is for us if we settle for the “it is what it is'' philosophy and are too busy to seek His counsel and wisdom for our lives and ministries? What if simplifying our lives and our ministries by resting would provide the time and margin we need to hear from the Lord about our priorities, schedules, plans and programs?

Do you have a concern, need or burden for which you are waiting to hear from God? Have you prayed, waited, prayed more, but feel like giving up?

Rather than accepting an “it is what it is” mentality, let’s resolve ourselves to make our prayer life “all that it can be!” What we can do is magnify the ministry of prayer. E.M. Bounds said, “Our praying needs to be pressed and pursued with an energy that never tires, a persistency which will not be denied, and a courage that never fails.”

With online services so easily at our fingertips, many are struggling to see the church family return to in-person gatherings. Of course, some are hesitant to return due to health concerns, social concerns and fear. But for many, I wonder if it could simply be laziness. I have had countless people tell me it is so much easier to get up later on Sunday morning, relax, get a cup of coffee and sit in the family room to watch church online rather than participate with their church.

Rather than adopting the “it is what it is” philosophy, we can amplify corporate worship for ourselves, our families and our churches.

I fear that many believers approach God’s Word so casually, that it has little impact on their lives. I often wonder if the reason many are not coming back to church in attendance is a reflection of minimal Bible exposure.

The headlines today are filled with crisis, conflict, confusion and chaos. There are many questions regarding politics, government, medicine, war, sports, media and more. What is the truth? What is not the truth? And who can you trust to report the truth? Do we just fold our arms and say, “it is what it is?” What can we do? We can get back to the Bible - the ultimate source of truth.

“It is what it is,” a statement of defeat, seems to have become the motto of the church. But it doesn’t have to be. There is much we can do, and one of those things is to unify relationships within the true Body of Christ.

Believers in Christ face serious challenges today: cultural, political, relational and more. There are so many differing opinions among us. But there is also something we share in common: our love for Jesus! That should be our driving passion - the Christ-life.