When commiserating with a friend or acquaintance who has suffered a disappointment we often fall back on the phrase (usually delivered with a shrug), “Oh well, we can’t have everything.”  What we too often forget to add is, “Thank God!”

While we may moan about the things we want that don’t come our way, we forget to be grateful for what we do have and to be even more grateful for all the horrific things that we have not had to suffer through.

No matter what blessings we receive, we can always find someone else who seems to have received more or better. But it is also true that no matter how ill-treated we may feel at times, if we open our eyes we will see much greater suffering all around us.

That is an important reality for us all to keep in mind, but it isn’t my point today.

While no one is meant to have everything, if we are prayerfully obedient, God does provide everything we need to fulfill his plan in our lives.  This is true for us as individuals and just as true for ministries, as well.

If a ministry is faithful to God’s leading he will provide what is needed for that ministry to serve his kingdom.

If your church, fellowship or ministry group is not making the impact you want, perhaps you are trying to take your ministry on a path outside of God’s design.

It is my conviction that if a believer is alive today God has something for them to do today.  I believe that if your ministry exists today there is within the current resources of that ministry the tools to accomplish something for God…today; where you are, with what you have.

God may have plans for your group someday when you have more members or younger members or richer members, but if your group exists today he has something for you to do today.

Do today’s job first and see what greater blessings and opportunities come tomorrow.

Women’s groups bemoaning the lack of younger women need to take a good hard look at themselves and ask, “What does God want us to do today, with the women we have?” and then, just do it.  God doesn’t ask us to do what he is not willing to help us do. He knows what we are capable of better than we do.

I don’t believe he will ask a group of octogenarians to run a marathon to raise funds for missions. He may ask them to write letters of support to missionaries and share the needs of those missionaries with everyone they meet, raising awareness of both the needs and the worth of those missionaries. He will certainly ask the ladies to pray for the community they are in and to find areas of service, in his name, that they are able to do.

There is a critical lack of local extended families in today’s mobile society where both parents have to work. A circle of “little old ladies” is just the prescription for that particular societal ill, especially if the women can keep their motives pure…wanting to serve in Christ’s name….rather than trying to recruit the young mothers into their circle or the kids into Sunday school classes.  Once the relationships are established, that very well may be one of the fruits, but it must not be the goal.

This is just one example of work that can be accomplished by a small, elderly group of women who are willing to follow Christ’s lead. With all the years of experience that exist in such a group God knows all the possibilities.

We can’t have everything, but, thanks be to God, we have something.  Let’s see what we can do with it.