But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Romans 15:23-24

We’re in between the two major holiday seasons in America, where friends and family gather and meet and catch up. That’s what friends and family do if they haven’t seen one another for a long time. The Apostle Paul obviously had friends and acquaintances in Rome, and no doubt some converts. When he arrived, he would mix business with pleasure by visiting first then assisting Paul in his ministry. Even the great Paul needed some down time in ministry. But you can almost see in the text that in the back of Paul’s mind is the push and the drive to tell others, to minister to others even as he experiences that down time. To Paul, being with people of the faith even in very casual settings was ministry.

How do you view ministry? Is it something you practice even in casual settings? Is it a drain or do you become inspired and motivated by it? Or perhaps you shy away from ministry because you may not feel that what you do is ministry? Obviously different personality types experience different emotions in ministry.

Ministry takes many different forms. Serving people in a soup kitchen is ministry. Talking and counseling with people over coffee is ministry. Praying with someone is ministry. Reading the Bible or a good book to someone in a nursing home is ministry. When you are meeting someone’s needs, you are ministering.

Being in someone’s presence can be one of the most powerful forms of ministry out there. Never underestimate what God can do when you yield yourself to Him. Even what we consider mundane can be used to His glory.