My Favorite Quote When Freaking Out

I write this as I prepare for a daunting task: confirmation camp.  Three days of 7th and 8th graders at a summer camp.  Swim time and campfires.  Juvenile flirting and smelly boys who have yet to apply deodorant with any consistency.  Somewhere in the middle of all this, my team of leaders must impart our deepest held beliefs and convictions.  

Impacting the lives of young people is a great responsibility.  I don't take it lightly, and I tremble a little every time.  

Am I effective?
Am I making a difference?
Is there more I could do to connect  with these kids?

Whenever I freak out over a big challenge, I refer back to a quote by Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

“The Christian should work as if all depended upon him, and pray as if it all depended upon God.”

On the one hand, we take our God-given responsibilities seriously.  We work, sweat, lift, and bleed for things of great importance.  This is the place for:

Obedience.
Discipleship.
Righteousness.
Pursuing truth.
Laboring faithfully.
Giving all we have.

On the other hand, we also trust that God holds all things in his hands.  We know him to be all-powerful and extraordinarily gracious.  If we ruin everything, he has a way of redeeming it.  If we mess it all up, only he is capable of putting it all back together.  This is the place for:

Grace.
Forgiveness.
Trusting him when we have no idea what we're doing.
Believing he's in charge even when we're out of control.  

It is the paradox of the Christian life.  To follow Christ wherever the road may lead.  And at the same time know that he carries us when we falter along the way.  

I love our junior high kids.  I'll give them my all.  And God will give them more.  He already has.