I just got home from another ministry event.
It was the Abide Conference, a one-day experience of learning what it means to abide in God’s love. This is an event my friend Cyndi Staudt and I have collaborated on for two years now. Each conference has been the definition of the “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” we read about in Ephesians 3:20.
I remember at the end of last year’s event, Cyndi and I looked at each other and said, “God far exceeded our expectations.” And it was as if God replied, “Well, yeah. You asked me to, and I did.” It was the first major in-person event we had ever done, with caterers, event insurance, sound equipment… You don’t realize what goes into a one-day experience until you do it! Nevertheless, by the morning of the conference we were ready–physically and spiritually.
So this year, I honestly expected the same. We knew what to do from an event-planning perspective. We had done the work to be obedient from a spiritual perspective. We prayed and fasted with the speakers, worship leader, and volunteers in the days leading up to the event. We were faithful to complete the task before us that God had invited us to.
It’s hard to put into words how meaningful it was. How significant of a day it was, not just for Cyndi and I but for every woman in the room.
As I reflect on it, the only phrase that keeps coming to mind is, I am so grateful this is what I get to do.
I am grateful this is my job, my work. I’m overwhelmed knowing God has invited and entrusted me to serve others in this way. Through preaching and teaching, through praying, through ministering, through creating opportunities for women to use their God-given voices. To see chains break, lives be restored to joy and hope, and friendships to be cultivated.
I sat down to write a recap blog, but I think there’s a more important message here than to share the details of the day with you.
Because as I was thinking about why the event was so impactful to me, I realized it’s why all ministry events are so impactful to me… the gift of dependence. To preach, teach, plan, and execute a conference, retreat, mission trip, workshop, or even a regular Sunday morning sermon, I deeply depend on God. I get paid to depend on God.
This might seem obvious, but it’s a different dependence on God than any other ways I depend on him.
All of us depend on God for different things, and if we’re honest, much of the time this dependence only affects ourselves. We don’t often pray for provision so we can make a bigger impact with our finances; we depend on God to provide so we can pay our bills. We don’t often pray for peace so everyone else has a better livelihood; we depend on God’s peace so our own lives are better. I’m not casting judgment here. There are plenty of Scriptures in which God is inviting us to depend on him for provision and peace. I’m merely observing that my daily dependence on God is often short-sighted and self-focused more than I’d like to admit. And this isn’t something I decided on my own; I was taught to depend on God for these things, so I assume you were, too.
When I’m serving in ministry and at events, this dependence is wider. It’s higher and deeper. It’s beyond myself, because there are many more people affected by the work.
And honestly, this might be why I love it.
It changes the task of preparation from sermon writing, event promotion, and ironing out the details to be:
- Seek God
- Listen to God
- Be obedient to God
At the end of the day, the work is reduced to dependence. To listening and abiding. To seeking “first his kingdom and his righteousness” as Jesus invites in Matthew 6:33. Dependence is at the top of the job description. It’s the only thing on the to-do list.
I consider myself a fairly independent woman, but co-laboring with God reminds me what a gift dependence really is.
If you’ve ever planned an event–a wedding, graduation party, even a girls’ night–you know the post-event blues can easily creep in. After all, you spent weeks, months, or years planning, dreaming, and preparing for the day. Once it begins, it comes and goes quickly. You wake up the next day thinking, “now what?” You come home after work and instead of opening Pinterest or running through your checklist, you just… well, what do you do? It’s not just that the event has ended; your whole routine changes.
I often expect to feel this way after a ministry event, but I never do. Even though the sermon is written and preached. Because the event is not the end. It’s just a moment in time. This is the gift of dependence.
And the same is true not just for people serving in ministry, hosting events, or writing sermons. This dependence is for the hearer, too. It takes courage to walk into a church or conference. There are plenty of times I have said, “I don’t want to go” even though I know I’ll be fine once I get there. In those moments, we exercise dependence. And it stays with us.
Abiding continues. Faith is strengthened. You don’t leave the day behind as you continue on with your life. Instead, you continue to depend on God for immeasurably more.