It’s hard in ministry to balance “my” work, and God’s work. It is hard to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing, how much and with how much effort, and when I’m supposed to stop, get down on my knees and pray the issue to God and leave it there.

Then something happened in church a while back that gave me some insight.

We were preparing for Holy Communion. I was at the altar ready to say the words of institution. I began: “In the night in which he was betrayed our Lord took bread …” At that point I was preparing to break the bread when I said the next line, when I noticed a slight problem, I had picked up the tray with the wine!

I stopped, looked at what I had in my hand and said, “And so why I’m holding the wine right now, I don’t know.” Everyone burst out laughing while I turned around to get the bread. When I turned back to them I said, “Jesus just does this better than I do.”

We all agreed.

“Jesus just does it better than I do.” That comment has stuck with me. And from it I am learning to get on my knees faster than I used to do. I am learning to trust the power of prayer more than my intellect or muscle or hard work. That doesn’t mean I’m still not working hard – it just means, I know who does it better and so I start there … and things are going better.

God bless, Dan