full room or full Kingdom

last night at The SLAM (our middle school group) we only had 6 students show up. obviously, that's disappointing to me. the gym seemed empty. we had more volunteers than students (i suppose that's a good ministry ratio, though). as i walked up to the front to speak i found myself fighting the urge to believe that this night wasn't all that important because of our lack luster attendance. which is "ironic" because, as i was speaking on dating, i had selected 1 corinthians 1o:31 as some of the scripture we were going to look at it. if you're not familiar with the bible, that's ironic because that verse says:

so whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

and so i prayed that i would speak for God's glory, not my own. i prayed that i would speak for God's glory, not the approval of 6 middle school students or 10 volunteers. honestly, it wasn't easy. but by the grace of God i believe i was able to speak for His glory.

after the night concluded i found myself reflecting on this prayer that i often pray- "God, i pray that hundreds of students would walk through the door tonight to experience Your love for them."

my reflection went like this: was i praying that prayer so that the room would be filled? or was i praying that prayer so that the Kingdom would be filled? the honest truth, it's the second. it really is. that doesn't mean i don't struggle with "numbers" or my motives or any of that, but in the deepest part of my heart i long for students to encounter and experience the love of Jesus Christ.

and hopefully 6 students and 10 leaders experienced that last night. however, my biggest hope is that God was glorified. here's to praying the Kingdom fills up...