Coleslaw Dressing

Have you ever made coleslaw? I know that if you are reading this and you live in the north you probably haven't but I did last night. Coleslaw is a poor man's salad. It is shredded cabbage and carrots with a special dressing that is made up of mayonnaise, vinegar, and sugar. I will have to say after reading the ingredients I am not very impressed myself, but I am a huge fan of coleslaw. When making coleslaw you take a pound of cabbage/carrots mix and pour in, if you follow the recipe, a cup of dressing. Now I will tell you that you don't need a full cup of dressing. It should be more like 2/3 of a cup. Why? Coleslaw dressing has this supernatural phenomena reaction with the cabbage concoction. It grows. I don't mean a little but some how it doubles and then triples and by the time you are done stirring in the dressing, a pound of cabbage is swimming in a pool. Cole slaw baffles me. I don't understand it. I don't understand how I can pour in a little and it comes out a lot. Why am I writing about coleslaw dressing? It hit me, as I was stirring, that my ministry is very much like coleslaw dressing. I don't understand how God takes my lame little attempt at ministry and multiplies it. I know how much I put in, not that much, and when I turn around it has doubled, tripled, and sometimes even to the point where lives are being changed. I would have to say praise God. God does some supernatural phenomena reaction with students, volunteers, and yes sometimes even staff. So I never thought I would say this but a goal of mine in ministry is to become coleslaw dressing. I don't want to know how God does it, but I do want to put in my part and stir. This way when the results happen I can't take credit for any of it. Needless to say I believe we look at our ministries and say the same thing. We say that we have been give the poor man’s salad and we are expected to serve it at a five star restaurant. Here is the problem with that line of thinking: It is not up to you. Yes, you have to do the work of stirring, mixing, and gathering ingredients but has nothing to do with what happens after you have done your work. First you have to do your work. Gather volunteers who fit your ministry. Mix in encouragement and excitement. Stir in great Biblical teaching. God does the rest. When you look back at your bowl you will see an incredible amount of God and very little of you. So do your work and let God do his.