Whatever you do, don't force it!

Hello, friends! 

One of the things one has to learn when working in ministry is that sometimes things are just out of your control.  We can plan and prep and get ready all we want, but the truth is that sometimes things don't go the way that one expects them to go and sometimes you just have to give it up to Jesus.  Today was a double dose reminder that ultimately, I am not in charge. 

ACF is still a young fellowship so we are just now starting to develop a sense of tradition.  One of those traditions is our tailgate.  Before one of the homegames, we go to the intramural field and grill out along the side.  The face isn't fancy, just burgers and hot dogs, but the fellowship is good and we always attract a good number of people.  It isn't unusual for us to have 60 or so students in attendance at any given point.  It is one of my favorite ACF traditions because it is a very easy outreach.  Regardless of how you feel about Jesus, Christianity, or even spirituality, everyone loves a free burger before a Mizzou football game. 

Imagine my dismay when I woke up to cloudy skies and the gentle pitter patter of raindrops falling on my roof.  It's one thing to ask students to come out to tailgate.  It's something totally different to ask them to do it in the rain.  I immediately went to check the weather and was felt my heart drop: 40% chance of thunderstorms throughout the entire day. 

40% is probably the worst thing that could happen.  If it was any higher then we could postpone and feel fairly good about the situation, knowing that it is probably going to rain.  If it is any lower than we can continue with our plans and feel fairly good about the situation, knowing that it probably isn't going to rain.  But 40% in that point of tension.  We don't want to postpone early, but we also don't want to have folk be miserable in the rain. 

I talked it over with Will, the other ACF staff, and we agreed that it was probably for the best that we postpone, as it is better to be safe than sorry.  I sent out the emails, wrote the texts, posted on Facebook, and watched as the skies immediately dried up as soon as we canceled... unfortunately, we chose wrong. 


So there's number one.  The second reminder came a little bit later as I went to lunch with a student.  This student has been coming somewhat regularly to ACF and has been making great steps toward following Jesus.  He texted me a question he had and I knew that the answer couldn't be answered in 140 characters, so we set up a lunch date to talk things out. 


The first place my mind  went was McVangelism.  I was certain that once we started talking over some fast food, everything was going to work out perfectly.  It felt like things were already in place because I had been craving a blizzard from the Dairy Queen.  We set up a location and I got ready for some sweet Holy Spirit Action. 


The Spirit showed up, but not in the way that I expected.  As we were talking and he was sharing his process with me, I got the feeling that today was not going to be the day for him.  I answered his questions and presented the Gospel but I didn't force the issue to hard and let the conversation go where it led.  Through our talking, he shared that one of the things that had turned him off to Christianity early on was that folk tried to convert without trying to build relationship; pretty much what I had almost done just a few minutes earlier.  Disaster avoided...


But the question still remains, what then is my role?  I know I should still work hard to prepare as much as I can, but I also know that I have to be open to the leading of the Spirit and ultimately give up to God the things that are beyond me (which is a lot...). 


A few prayer requests:
- We are still recruiting for Fall Conference.  Pray that God will move in the students and they will be inspired to sign up. 
- Pray for my student who has questions about Jesus.  Pray that God will continue to reward that curiosity.


Have an excellent day! 


~Adam