Galatians 1:1-5

God has appointed me to do the work that I'm doing. I know this because I can sense that I am in God's will for my life. The Bible, prayer, circumstances, and wise counsel all confirm it.
Since this is true, and since God is all-powerful, then that means that I cannot fail. Things may have the appearance of failing from the metrics that I use, but God is using me in the way that He desires. If He desired something different done, He would either lead me to do that or would lead another person into leadership of the ministry.
The focus then becomes less about what is best for the ministry, and more about what does God desire for my ministry, my church, myself. How can God use me for His greatest glory. Whether 1000 students show up (in my context) or 1. May God receive the glory from every aspect of my life. And my I not be ashamed to ascribe Him glory from every area of my life.
JM

Accepting Failure

You can't always win. That's sometimes tough to swallow. I mean, you can only do so much in ministry. You can try to help people, but ultimately they are in control of their lives. 18 months ago I had the opportunity to help a young man named Kevin that had to spend a week with a minister. He was finishing up a 12 month inpatient drug rehab stint. The week I spent with him, I kept trying to talk to him about what his plan was to stay out of trouble. His plan was to say no.
I encouraged him to instead try to change his core group of friends and get involved in some activities that would help him stay busy. I could tell that he didn't care for my advice.
Unfortunately, Kevin was at a party last year, got drunk, smoked some pot, and accidentally shot and killed his best friend. Last week he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his crime.
I feel sorry for Kevin. I wish there was something more that I could have done. I feel like I failed him. But, I'm not the one at fault. It's Kevin. It's just tough for me to really believe that.