Series: 'The Juggling Act' Part 2: Great expectations (dealing with disappointing others)
Learning to say no is an art! We are brought up to say no to bad things, (we get pretty good at it ☺) - but we aren’t always brought up to put in boundaries when what we are being asked to do is good!! It seems rude ☺
I think I found this the hardest thing of all when we started being asked to do all sorts of ministry all over the place – whilst at the same time trying to plant a church at home, and starting to raise our own little family.
I want to tell you something that I heard right at the beginning of this journey though, that I’ve come back to time and again as I’ve walked this through.
It was something that Brian Doerksen taught us way back in 1998. He told us how in a real vineyard, the gardiner knows that a vine can produce over 60 branches with hundreds of grapes per branch – and behind each grape that grows, there is an embryonic bud, just incase that crop fails. It’s an astounding amount of fruit for one plant! But here’s the deal – unless the gardener removes 55 of those branches, the vine will only produce fruit for one or two seasons before it dies.
I remember hearing that for the first time – and boy, did it grab my attention!
We are capable of producing an inordinate amount of fruit – but unless we yield to our maker and allow him to chop off perfectly good branches in our lives – over 90% of perfectly good branches to be precise – then we’ll never be able to sustain the course, and the fruit we bear won’t have the richness that He intended from the beginning.
I love that.
Learn what those five branches are in your life – and don’t allow the fear of others being disappointed in you, to sabotage what God wants to grow through you.
I think I found this the hardest thing of all when we started being asked to do all sorts of ministry all over the place – whilst at the same time trying to plant a church at home, and starting to raise our own little family.
I want to tell you something that I heard right at the beginning of this journey though, that I’ve come back to time and again as I’ve walked this through.
It was something that Brian Doerksen taught us way back in 1998. He told us how in a real vineyard, the gardiner knows that a vine can produce over 60 branches with hundreds of grapes per branch – and behind each grape that grows, there is an embryonic bud, just incase that crop fails. It’s an astounding amount of fruit for one plant! But here’s the deal – unless the gardener removes 55 of those branches, the vine will only produce fruit for one or two seasons before it dies.
I remember hearing that for the first time – and boy, did it grab my attention!
We are capable of producing an inordinate amount of fruit – but unless we yield to our maker and allow him to chop off perfectly good branches in our lives – over 90% of perfectly good branches to be precise – then we’ll never be able to sustain the course, and the fruit we bear won’t have the richness that He intended from the beginning.
I love that.
Learn what those five branches are in your life – and don’t allow the fear of others being disappointed in you, to sabotage what God wants to grow through you.
posted by Kathryn Scott at 8:48 pm
1 Comments:
This post was very insightful and so edifying!
I’m a new children’s pastor, struggling with the balancing act and learning the art of saying “no”! I had the privilege of seeing and hearing you speak at the CMS at Overlake this past weekend. It is very possible that being a part of the worship team in addition to children’s ministry is one branch that may need to be cut off. Nevertheless, this conference was incredible and I enjoyed the last workshop you did with the ladies in leadership. I love the way God speaks and reveals himself through your music and through your words! There were a few things you said that really spoke into my life. I stumbled across your blog and it is a blessing.
Thank you for allowing God to use you in such powerful ways!
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