My greatest challenge seems to be prioritizing my day. There’s a lot of things I enjoy doing; a lot I want to get done, and an awful lot I need to get done. I don’t have the time now to do all the things on my agenda. Regardless, I took on a new task. We needed the money, so I added a part time job to my schedule.
Now as the assistant Sunday school teacher for our ladies SS class, I expected to inherit the class when our teacher landed a new job over an hour away. She moved months earlier and has been commuting to church on the weekends. But that’s been very hard on her family, so this week her family is completing their move, and I needed to decide if I was willing to take on another commitment.
Preparing a SS lesson on occasion is a lot different than committing to bring one every week. So I asked the Lord if He would have me volunteer to take the class, while waiting to see if anyone else would jump at the chance. No one did. So after wrestling with the decision for a couple of months, I told the pastor not to worry about the ladies SS class because I would take over as the primary teacher in January.
At the time I told him that, I felt that God wanted me to commit; but I wasn’t positive. And as much as I love to study and teach the Word of God, all I could think was This is a weekly commitment – one more thing to do. Are you sure you want to take on this responsibility? Someone had to assume the responsibility. I knew I was qualified, and I love to teach.
Our SS class doesn’t use a SS book. Kim always pulled her lesson right out of the Bible; and that’s also how I prefer to prepare a lesson. The minute I committed to taking the class, a remarkable thing happened. The next time I picked up my Bible, I saw lessons in practically every passage of Scripture, and boy did that excite me. Then I knew, accepting this responsibility is definitely a challenge that God would have me to undertake. Although I have years of teaching under my belt, it’s much different preparing a weekly 15-minute Bible lesson for children than to bring a weekly half-hour lesson for adults.
Is there something that God’s been dealing with you about? You won’t stretch and grow into the Christian that God knows you can be if you never get out of your comfort zone, step out on faith, obey the Lord, and go where you have never gone before. God has something for each of His children to do. Not everyone is called to teach, but everyone is called into God’s service. How are you serving God today?