“Blessed are the poor in spirit…”

Blessed are those who recognize their spiritual poverty and let their misery help them to recognize their need for more. 

However, how often do we arrogantly and ignorantly say, "Oh, how hard can ministry be?" So we plunge forward with our own meager and insufficient spiritual resources, refusing to recognize our spiritual poverty. Sure, we can still do ministry, but we will be miserable instead of blessed. To be blessed in the inherent difficulty of ministry, we need God's spiritual resources. 

When you recognize your spiritual poverty, don't just plow ahead in misery. Cry out to Jesus for the riches of His resources. He has promised to give us the Holy Spirit. "If anyone thirsts," Jesus said in John 7:37, "let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." He said this concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.

Let the misery in ministry help you realize that you are simply thirsty for living water—the unlimited resources of His Holy Spirit, who can empower us to be blessed even while enduring the beautiful difficulty of ministry.