Playing Church

An older and well respected missionary couple once told me that, in their many decades of service, there were several times they felt like they were "just playing church."  Having a few years under our belts now I think we have a better understanding of what this is like.  There are times when we have absolute clarity about what we are doing and where we are going in ministry.  We know what needs to be done and we do it.  (By God's grace we do it well.)
Then there are other times when we do not know what the next step is in ministry.  This is frustrating to me as the leader of our family because I like to know what the next step is and where we go from here at all times.  I (though I hate to admit it) still prefer to follow my own voice rather than stop and listen to the Holy Spirit.  Yet at dry times like this, that is especially what I need to do.
One of the nice things about our sending agency is that they ask us to spend one day a month and a few days once a year in refection and planning.  I find that these times to be very helpful in slowing us down to listen to Him.  Without His guidance we will be just spinning our wheals.  Dry seasons will still come like they did for this other couple, but at least we will not walk through these deserts alone.