Ministry Is Wherever You Are

Ministry Is Wherever You Are

- A Testimony That Every Believer In Jesus Christ Has A Ministry

Written by Eileen R. Jacobs

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." - Colossians 3:17

Quite some time ago, in a season of my life when I had encountered some rejection in ministry and I was feeling like I had no ministry at all, the Lord spoke these words to me..."Ministry is wherever you are!" Now to be honest, I do not remember whether these words came through some faithful saint or whether The Lord Himself spoke them to me, either way, I took them as the precious and personal words of my Savior. These words became my daily motto. No longer was I waiting for someone else to support me or validate me as a minister. No longer was I waiting for the approval or applause of others. I didn't need a plaque on the wall saying I was accepted as a minister. Jesus had made me a minister through the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) and as the Spirit would lead me, I was going to be a minister "wherever" I happened to be...the grocery store, Walmart, the park, my living room, on the internet, with my children..."Wherever!"           I was recently reminded how important it is to have a ministry wherever you are. You may not be called to preach from a pulpit, pastor a church, or go to another country to be a missionary, but every born-again believer is called to "Ministry...wherever you are!" The "Great Commission" is great because it came directly from Jesus, and He gave it to every one of His followers. I hope to encourage those of you who may have been wounded in the area of ministry, have lost your ministry, or have been persecuted for the name of Jesus. I hope to encourage those of you who are waiting to receive some kind of ministry or approval for ministry. Finally, I hope to encourage those of you who don't think you have a ministry at all. If you are a born-again, child of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, you have a ministry directly from the Lord, Himself. Your ministry is very important to Him and is of great value to the Kingdom of God. Somebody's life will be different and blessed as a result of your special ministry. I hope the following story will help you discover the grace you need to be the minister you already are.           As of this writing, it has been over a year since my dear father went on to be with Jesus. It had been a tragic loss and was surrounded by intense grieving, yet I am still moved by the testimonies that continue to come in regarding my father and his influence in our community. As I was growing up in his home, he was a willing participant in serving whatever church we were attending. He had been trained in evangelism ministry, had served on worship teams as a drummer, ran the sound booth, had served as a deacon, and for a long time, served as the church treasurer. One might consider that as a good ministry resume, however, this was not his true ministry. A blessed brother in the Lord reminded me, just this week, that my father's greatest ministry was his place of business.           My dad owned a humble, local printing shop. It was messy, and to many onlookers seemed disorganized, but it was an intelligent operation despite its appearance. My dad stepped out to open his own business as a young man while we still lived in California. He was fortunate in his early days to serve Mattel Toys, (you know...the place that makes Barbie!), and many other prominent places that really helped launch his business. However, my mother and father felt led to move to Oregon in 1976 to a small town where we knew no one. My dad opened his printing shop in our garage for the first year or so. This was great for me as a child, because I could go out to be with my dad anytime I wanted. I spent lots of time in that garage and got to meet most of his new customers. Eventually, he moved into a not-so-fancy building, but at least it was on one of the main streets, near the local pharmacy. After school, I was able to walk to my dad's new shop. In fact, I worked there for most of my teenage years. His business remained in the same place ever since he opened those doors on 12th Street.

          I watched how my father interacted with his customers regularly. He was always calm and undisturbed in his demeanor, even when certain customers would take advantage of him. He had all kinds of customers, as most small businesses do...you know ...the nice ones who are always easy to please; the super picky ones that caused him to redo work at his expense because of something not quite perfect enough for them; the irresponsible ones that brought their emergency work in on Friday about 10 minutes before closing and wanted it done immediately, thus causing him to come home well after dinner was over; and also the terrible ones that would order things to be printed and then never come back to pay for what they ordered. Most of his customers never knew how many times he went back to work after dinner and worked until 3 or 4 am to be sure their needs were met on their time schedule. He treated all of his customers with the same care and respect, no matter how nice, weird, careless or ornery they were. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control were all at work in this man as he interacted daily with each person that came through the door of his print shop. He even exhibited this same gentleness and care over his old, but beloved machinery. None of the rest of us could keep his machines going like he could. He would always tell us this goofy story about the man who had to pay $10,000 to have something fixed. When the man asked why it cost so much, the repair man said that it cost $1 for the part to fix it, but $9,999 to know where to put it. This was his confidence and most of the time, he loved his work.

          He had a quiet, but funny sense of humor, but most people thought he never smiled and was very melancholy. Mostly, he was just tired! He sauntered a bit, which caused the impatient to demonstrate their impatience, but he was careful, accurate and specialized in quality over speed. Many people felt comfortable enough with him to drop by for business and then hang around to "shoot the breeze" with him for long periods of time; he never let on that he might be too busy to talk. He always gave people "the time of day", so to speak! While not too many people praised him to his face, following his departure, they have come out of the woodwork to share what a special, honest and good man he was.           What made him the good-natured way he was, so honest and dependable in character? He was a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, a child of the Most High God. The love of Christ came out of him in his meticulous care for his work, for treating his customers with kindness, respect and love, and the way he selflessly served people, both in his community and in his church. Most of all, his love was demonstrated in his constant watch-care over his family. He always sacrificed his needs for ours. He loved, not always in word, but mostly in deed. (1 John 3:18) Whether times were good or times were bad, he never really let on that he was moved by either. I am not saying his faith was perfect, but he was perfectly in the faith of Christ. The Lord had entrusted him with a family and a local business, and he faithfully carried out that entrustment.

         I don't think my dad even knew that his humble, little print shop was his ministry, but the fruit is obvious in the testimonies of those who did business there. Friends, my encouragement to you is that when you go off to your job every day, be aware that this is your ministry. If you are simply visiting some local business to purchase something you need, this is a place of ministry. Jesus went from town to town, and He ministered everywhere He went: on the road, in the city, at the local synagogue, by the lake, and in the lake. There is something important and beautiful that the Lord wants us to see here...

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 KJV 

        Everywhere you go and every person you make contact with, the Lord Jesus is ministering to them through you. Even when you are just doing those mundane things, Jesus is touching people's lives through you. Take this by faith! In fact, as the verse reveals, you can take His faith for your faith every day as you head out into the world. Believe that He wants to love people through you. He wants to minister to people's needs through you. He is the Light of the World and you are carrying His light everywhere you go and to every person that you meet. You may not see His Light in you, but they see it. This is why the Word of God encourages us to...

"Conduct yourself with wisdom in your interactions with outsiders (non-believers), make the most of each opportunity [treating it as something precious]. Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you]." - Colossians 4:5-6 AMP

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4:29

"We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.

For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." - Romans 15:1-3 NIV

          Friends, Jesus wants to reach out with compassion to everyone who enters your personal sphere. Open up you heart to see that your ministry is very important to the Kingdom of God, even if all you do is get up and go to work every day in a humble environment with no bells or whistles. If you didn't think you had a ministry, I hope my father's story has changed your mind. Even if you are simply a father or a mother, your children are your most important ministry.           For those of you who feel like you have been called by God into the ministry, but you've felt like you needed the approval of others to be called a minister, realize that your definition of ministry may be off a bit and you need to refer back to the Great Commission for your permission. Note that there are biblical instructions for those called to preach, teach, evangelize, etc. I encourage you to become equipped for that special call you have from the Lord and be sure that you are not out of line regarding God's perfect design and order of things. The Spirit of God will lead you through the Word to be obedient in your future steps as you pursue His will for your life. Remember that no one determines the will of God for your life, but the Lord, Himself, Who has all your days written and a record of the good works He has planned for you. As you are being equipped, let the Spirit of the Lord use you right now to minister..."wherever you are."           And finally, for you precious servants who have been wounded, damaged emotionally, or have been given the "left-foot" of fellowship (ie...been booted out of your ministry), please be comforted that even while you wait for the Lord to open new doors of opportunity for you as a called minister, Jesus still desires to be that Light to the world that He is, in and through you. As I have recovered from my own ministry rejections over the years, Jesus has lovingly been able to minister to people I have randomly met as I have simply gone about my daily doings. I can tell you that our Lord wants nothing more than for you to be restored to your called ministry and back on the team, running your race to the end. The apostle Peter's story is our license to believe that fact. In the meantime, pray for the sick ("...The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few..." Matthew 9:35-10:8), allow the Holy Spirit to give words of encouragement to everyone you meet during the day, and finally, fellowship with the Holy Spirit in prayer and let Him enlarge you through the Word of God as He prepares you for your next assignment or adventure with Him.           No matter which situation you are confronted with, be confident that, if Christ is in you, Who is the hope of glory, you do have a ministry right now. Wake up every day with the conviction and the Holy Spirit's empowerment that your "Ministry Is Wherever You Are?"

Now that, dear friends, is GRACE!

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." - 1 John 3:18 NIV

written by

Eileen R. Jacobs (January 2019)

Copyright © 2019 Eileen Jacobs Ministries. All rights reserved.

This article is dedicated to my dearly beloved, earthly father, Charles A. Weatherly: 1946-2017. Dad, I wish you knew how amazing, important and valuable you were to your family and your community. You are so deeply missed, but your ministry will always be remembered!