There have been many times I have felt all alone in the world while doing ministry. I felt this way particularly when I was the treasurer of my church. There seemed to be too many nights where I was working by myself, and I needed help to get the job done. You see, we had a system of accountability where I had to get another deacon to sign checks for me. This system was put into place so that a treasurer could not write checks to himself or to benefit himself. It was a cumbersome system, but I liked it. The problem I had was that my fellow deacons would be frequently unavailable when I needed them to sign checks for me. The situation annoyed me so much that I made some angry sarcastic comments at board meetings and directly to my fellow deacons. They took exception and complained to the pastor about me. I ended up appologising to them and accomidating them by carting the unsigned checks to their homes to get their signatures.

I believe that God put me through this on purpose to teach me a basic truth about ministry. Ministry is between you and God, and God alone. You may be helping people, teaching people or serving people, but the working relationship should be between you and God, and no one else.

From 1 Kings 18:22 – “Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.”

God’s answer came later in 1 Kings 19:18: “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

The problem Elijah had was, these people were not around when he thought he needed them.

Fact is, all we need is God, but since God is invisible and speaks with a still small voice, we often ignore the fact that he is there with us when we are performing ministry, and is all we need. God wants us to get used to the idea that ministry is about Him and you and no one else. If you think you need other people, then you are probably not ready for ministry. Ministry is about going to the next level with God, and the next level does not involve anyone else. If you think about it, when ever you go to the next level in anything, you are frequently alone in it. There may be other people around, but you experience being alone while in the middle of going to the next level.

Being alone was also Jesus’ last test. During the crucifixion, he noticed that he had been abandoned by all, including God from Mark 15:34 – “And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).” In being alone in ministry, we have fellowship with Jesus, and we know a little bit how he felt on those last minutes of his life.

We desire the fellowship of believers for good reason, we need the encouragement we get from just being around our fellow believers. God invented the church for this very reason. It is good to seek out our fellow Christians and be with them. We need to remember, however, that we may not always have these people available, and need to get used to being ALONE with God, and experience fellowship with Him.