Youth Worker BOOST: Getting Directions

ym360 knows youth workers. We know what an incredibly rewarding, yet incredibly challenging job youth ministry can be. There are days when your spirits are sky-high, and there are days when you could use a bit of a “pick me up” from God's Word . . . That's why we're happy to offer Youth Worker Boost, one of the many valuable resources on the ym360 Blog.

Boost is a short, weekly piece of encouragement designed to, well, “boost” your spirits and encourage you as you minister to students. We consider it yet another great opportunity to serve you and your ministry.

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"Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies—make straight your way before me.”--Psalm 5:8

Many years ago one of my students started a praise and worship band. Things went pretty well, and soon they got an invitation to play in the State of Texas. Traveling from Alabama, the student and his band got off the Interstate in Arkansas to get some gas, apparently, on a pretty remote exit. When they went to get back on the Interstate, no one could remember exactly which way they had come. There wasn't a lot of signage to help them. And this was before GPS. Needless to say, it was an interesting (and probably a little embarrassing) process trying to figure out if "left" or "right" led to Texas!

Today we have great GPS devices and smart phones to help us with directions. But what about spiritual directions?

We have advantages here, as well. We're not like our spiritual ancestors who lived before Christ, or in the 1st Century. We have God's completerevelation, the Bible. We know God. And we can pray to Him, with Jesus mediating on our behalf, and the Holy Spirit helping voice needs we might not even know! Certainly we still battle with our sin nature, but as Christ-followers, we can't use "lack of information" as an excuse for being lost.

In today's verse, we see David modeling exactly where to go for the spiritual direction we need. He prayed for God to guide him along the right path. This should be our habit, as well. As youth ministers, we have to make a lot of different and sometimes tough decisions. We make decisions not only for the direction to take our student ministry in, but decisions about relationships with students, our family, and our personal spiritual life. It can sometimes feel overwhelming. But don't let it bring you down. The first steps in finding your spiritual direction should always be prayer (asking God to reveal the right direction, and listening to His leading) accompanied by a searching of Scripture.

Remember, God's plan isn't to keep His will a secret. He wants us to live for Him. If we seek His direction, God is faithful and will show us where He's leading.

Our prayer for you: Our prayer for you today is that you would be disciplined in seeking out God's direction for your life, and committed to obediently following through on His leading.

Last Week's BOOST: Just Do It

Next Week's BOOST: Revealed

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