As you may know, children’s ministry can be a lot of fun and very challenging at the same time. What happens all too often is a few voices turn the whole ship. You already know who I am talking about. Those complaining voices seem to always get their way.

Let me explain what I mean. You see, in the ministry God calls you to, He gives you a vision. That vision might require you to step completely out of what is normal and go in a totally new direction. When you do that, you will seriously rock the boat for a lot of folks. You will likely hear, “We have never done it that way!”

The temptation is to throw in the towel and go back to what you were doing before. The old program, curriculum, or a traditional approach to ministry. Let me warn you! If you are doing this because of the fear of men, you are disobeying the voice of the Master. Let me give you some counsel here. Hold on to the vision God gives you! That is where you should be going. Ignore the voices of the naysayers.

Remember, vision is exciting to people. Change is good. But know this, there are a lot of good ideas…but are they GOD IDEAS? Get alone and hit a knee and ask, “Lord Jesus, what is Your Vision for YOUR ministry?” That’s right—it is HIS ministry, not yours. When He gives you the vision, you stick to His vision in obedience to Him and not men.

In my later years of Children’s Ministry, I upset a lot of boats in my church. People were not happy, but I was delighted because I followed what the Lord led me to do. Oh, I had plenty of naysayers. I even had a co-staff member who held a private meeting with families from my church about me.

What I saw as I followed the Lord and stepped out of the box was tremendous fruit in the lives of children. They were growing rapidly in their faith, and they were excited about being a part of the church for the first time. But a lot of parents were upset with me because I was challenging their kids in the faith and releasing them to do big things for the Lord.

The others were those with an education mindset. I would hear, “Those kids are not developmentally ready to do things like that.” Guess what? I found that the Holy Spirit does not need our permission to work in the lives of kids. We just need to get out of the way and let Him work. We are not educating kids; we are discipling them. Discipleship means getting your hands and feet dirty for Jesus.

Here are seven suggestions to keep you from throwing in the towel:

1. Clarify your vision. Seek the Lord for His vision.
2. Cast your vision with your leadership, pastor, elders, staff, leadership, etc.
3. Cast your vision with church families.
4. Take the time to properly plan for success.
5. Move forward with your vision in the forefront.
6. When trouble comes, stay true to what the Lord has called you to do.
7. Look forward to the day when you will hear, “Well done My good and faithful servant.”

Do not throw in the towel—keep moving forward with HIS VISION.

Do you need help in discovering a fresh vision for your ministry? Check out our online training or in-person training events.