Lost in Translation

You who teach Sunday School know the feeling. You sit down to prepare for your lesson (or write a new one), and you sit. You tussle your papers. You fumble through your Bible. You write a page, then crumple it up. You feel utterly exhausted by the prospect of grasping God's Word, translating it into our culture, and then teaching it to others.

We've all been there. Simply put, teaching God's Word is tiring work. When we routinely deal with matters of eternal destiny, it can be draining. Maybe that's one reason Paul speaks of ministry as "striving" (Col. 1:29).

In contrast to my description above, I just wrote a Sunday School lesson for teens in less than two hours. I guess it went easy because it's an "overflow" lesson. Flowing from the overflow of God's Word in my life, I could easily write a lesson on prayer today. Not that it would be easy tomorrow, but today it was.

In my ministry, I need to focus on not becoming lazy. When things don't go quickly, I shouldn't give up. Also, as Paul did, I need to strive "according to His working which works in me mightily" (Col. 1:29). In God's limitless strength, I find strength.