Though the fig tree should not blossom...

Ministry (especially high school campus ministry) always seems to have its ups and downs.  During January and February I was so busy I could hardly get to everything that I needed to do.  The basketball guys at Truman kept me busy as we had chapels every Thursday.  We also tried to get together with a small group of them each week for pizza to get to know them, explain Cru, and share the Gospel diagram.  We attended several of their games also.  Then, during February we had our winter retreat called FastBreak, which I helped lead the outreach day so there was a lot of planning involved with that.  On top of those things, we also had Cru meetings, Bible club, Bible studies, Youth Center, and other events that really kept us busy.  Lately however, I feel like I'm in an odd place as things have dramatically slowed down...

Despite several attempts at having a post season Bible study with the basketball team at Truman, it never really took off.  We had good interest, but not availability... almost all the guys were doing track, baseball, football weight lifting, or AAU basketball after school all the days we could do anything...  We are still working on possibly doing something with the ones doing weight lifting, but nothing is for sure yet.  This has been disappointing for us, but we know God will still use our time with them from the season as we have already seen God working in some of their lives.  With the basketball chapel over, I have had extra free time in my schedule.  Not only that, but the Bible study I do with some guys from Cru on Fridays has ended too.  One guy is playing baseball, one is too busy to be involved right now, and another was acting in his school play.  That only left me and one student... these things have been a bit depressing for me because I feel like a lot of things that I was planning on have come to a halt for the time being.  There have also been some things the past month or so that have had me down in my own personal life, so its just been a difficult month for ministry and hard to get motivated to keep moving forward here.

Though things have been difficult in ministry lately, I feel like God has really been growing me in my own personal walk with Him the past month or so... I think so often I have had good foundational faith that God exists and saves and all of that... but often doubt His work in my life on a day to day basis.  I think God has really been teaching me about faith lately especially as I've been studying the book of Hebrews and specifically in seeing all the imperfect people God used in chapter 11.  I've also learned a lot about how to have faith even when everything seems to be falling apart or when nothing seems to be happening or when prayers don't get answered the way I want.  Recently I heard a sermon on Habakkuk that was uplifting.  As you look at that short book of the Bible, you can see that Habakkuk is frustrated with God because God is letting evil men overtake Isreal.  He cries out to God, but God chooses not to deliver them.  He is reminded of God's goodness throughout the book, and at the end of the book in Habakkuk 3:17-18 it says, "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation." That has brought me comfort, and knowing that God is sovereign and even if I don't know what He is doing and things aren't going the way I want... I know He is working all things together for my good (Rom 8:28).  It has been a good experience for me though...  In the past, often times I was so busy with ministry that I didn't stop enough to learn from God, but lately He has had me in a place where I have had no choice but to stop and learn... and I am thankful for that. 

A few things are starting to move again though, so I'll ask for prayer for them.  We have started a Bible study with some guys from the local technical high school and the one student I had left from the other Bible study is helping lead it.  So far it has been hard to get all the guys together every time, so pray we will be able to get them all to really plug in.  Also, we have an opportunity at Truman with the soccer team.  The coach I spent so much time getting to know last year resigned, but right now they are suppose to be having spring training.  Because of this I called the athletic director and offered to bring some soccer guys from Cairn University to help lead practices.  The athletic director was very positive and appreciative.  He said we couldn't do it on campus if we didn't have the right background checks, but suggested a field nearby that we could use.  This week I will hopefully be meeting with some guys from the team to talk about it.  Please pray this comes together because it could be a great way to meet more soccer guys and maybe do a chapel with them in the fall.  Thank you for your prayers... they mean a lot, especially in times like these.