Is It Your Turn?

I love January. For me, this is the time when hope bubbles up in every conversation. As the new year begins, we get to not only start a new page in our planners, we get to throw away the battered pages from the past year and open a brand-new calendar. Empty spaces on each day whisper of new opportunities.

Are you training a new business partner? Is it your turn to prepare the next generation for ministry? Is it time to start obeying that nudge and courageously step up and start leading somewhere? What’s holding you back?

There is something about the first page of a new planner that sparks hope for me. I believe strongly in fresh starts and new opportunities. Over the years, I’ve developed a conviction that one of the most generous gifts we can extend to each other is the space to use our spiritual gifts, strengths, talents, and skills in our individual passion areas.

It takes courage to pursue a fresh start with a ministry or step onto a new career path. Having a mentor to look to and learn from is invaluable. A mentor can help build our confidence as well as guide us with years of experience.

As important as it is for the less experienced person to have a mentor, it’s just as valuable for the mentor to invest in someone. Our time on earth will eventually end, but that doesn’t mean our ministry won’t go on. And our ministry will grow when we can train people to work alongside us rather than trying to manage everything ourselves.

Paul understood this. Before his conversion on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9) Paul received training from Jewish scholars. This knowledge was foundational for Paul as his ministry began, but it wasn’t his only tool. The Holy Spirit “set apart” or appointed Barnabas to partner with Paul (Acts 13:1-3).

Over the years, Paul’s ministry continues, and he mentors a younger man named Timothy. Paul and the church elders identify that, even though he is young, Timothy has the gifts of teaching and preaching. (1 Timothy 4:11-16 ) Paul affirms this in two letters to Timothy, advising him on how to grow in his ministry and lead the church at Ephesus.

Paul gives Timothy a lot of guidance. Some of the advice is specific to one person or situation. Other times Paul offers wisdom all the churches at the time may have considered relevant for their congregations. Because God’s word is alive and active (Hebrews 12:4), we can discerningly read Paul’s letter and trust God’s word still applies today as we seek to live life on mission.

Paul knew that the best way to ensure people continued learning the truth about Jesus was to identify those with teaching and preaching gifts and to train and encourage them. Those Paul mentored were active participants in the process. They understood it was their turn to step up and say yes.

In 2 Timothy 4:1-6, Paul writes to Timothy, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (NIV).

Breaking this passage down, I identify five things I believe we can apply to our own lives as we pursue a fresh start or new opportunity:

• Preach the Word
• Be prepared
• Correct and encourage, staying focused on the truth of God’s Word
• Do your job/fulfill your ministry
• Understand that your mentor will not always be there to instruct you. As you become the leader, mentor the next person as well.

Living life on mission looks different for each person, and finding the sweet spots where we thrive often requires a few false starts and several adjustments as we incorporate our passions into our season of life.

We can all preach the word through our actions. In John 13:34-35, Jesus tells the disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (NIV).

Paul gives additional encouragement on how we should focus our thoughts, stay prepared, and correct and encourage others. He addresses this in 2 Timothy 2:1-4 and in Philippians 4:8-9, adding “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” (NIV).

In the past year, several of my girlfriends have stepped back into the workforce after years at home with littles underfoot. Others are launching new businesses. A few published their first books.

I’m cheering on even more women as they pursue living on mission in other ways that are just as courageous. Many of my friends are seeking higher learning degrees—some to incite growth in their current careers, others so they can start completely new opportunities. At the same time, other women are choosing to pursue motherhood after climbing the corporate ladder for decades.

All these women share one common thread that stands out: they have someone cheering them on and praying for them as they pursue living life on mission. As we begin 2020, will you prayerfully consider if it is your time to begin to mentor the next generation? Is it your time to say yes to a leadership role? Are you ready for a fresh start, a new adventure, or the next step in your life calling?

Don’t let fear or busyness hold you back any longer. There is someone waiting to invest in you. There is someone waiting for you to invest in them. Ask God to help you identify who that person is and how you can best glorify him in your relationship this year.

Beth Walker is a football coach’s wife and mom of two energetic boys. She strives to encourage those around her to pursue their best lives in Jesus whether she is near the game field, in church, or at the local coffee shop. As a writer, Beth has been striving to find her voice through seeing Jesus in the ordinary and extraordinary of daily life. She blogs at Lessons from the Sidelines.

Photograph © Maddi Bazzocco, used with permission