“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?” (Luke 14:28 NLT)
You use it, too, right? That powerful go-to verse followers of Christ, especially those in ministry, are taught to heavily weigh and use as a guidepost? It’s been with me all my life and has truthfully driven my decisions at times. We certainly heard it a lot during our church-planting interviews, evaluations, boot camp, and launch process. As a pastor’s wife for 15 years and church planter for the past six, counting the cost comes easily for me.
Let’s face it: Those of us called to church plant, pastor, or lead a ministry don’t do it for the paycheck, fame, or because we have nothing better to do. It’s imperative to have a deeper motivation than earthly rewards. We learn early on to count the cost.
Before long, we’re counting it all. Counting the losses we’ve endured. Counting the pennies in our bank account. Counting the people we thought were with us for the long haul but left. Counting the hours until we can get a few moments alone to rest. Counting the empty seats every Sunday. Counting the times we’ve had to say no to vacation yet again. Counting the weeks that have gone by with no new visitors. Counting the offering, hoping we can finally get paid. Losing count of the tears I’ve cried, feeling like our efforts are in vain.
I’m pretty good at counting, y’all. So good at counting the losses and heartbreaks. So keen on counting the sacrifices required to birth something from nothing. And if I count too much, my spirit gets weighed down, causing me to wonder why we were crazy enough to do this church-planting thing in the first place.
But the past few weeks, God has been challenging me to see this verse differently. And here’s what He whispered to my weary soul: “Because you serve me, you also get the joy of counting the rewards.” Oh, how patient He is with me, teaching me how to count all over again!
Count the lives that have been changed, including my own. Count the prayers He’s answered. Count the lessons you’ve learned. Even the hard ones? Yes, those too. Count the miracles you’ve seen. Count the people who have stayed. Count the ones who sowed for a season and got you here. Count the losses as gains, because He who called you is faithful. Count your blessings, and don’t even try to name them one by one, because you’ll never be able to count that high.
Insecurities, exhaustion, weariness, financial lack, those who walk away, or any other factor may attempt to count us out. But He has counted us worth the cost. And the glorious reward of belonging to Christ will always add up to more than whatever we’ve had to sacrifice.
When we count the cost but neglect to count the reward, we come up empty. But if we count the many things God has already done and will do because of our obedience and surrendered lives, we’ll find that it’s always worth it. And we can always count on Him. He’s the true reward.
So today, let’s remember to count the rewards. Sure, there are days it may look like He’s the only blessing we can count. But over the years, He’s proven to be enough. You can count on it.
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