Psalm 126:5-6 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

This is the verse that describes my mentoring experience over the last few years. I walked into mentoring others with a great deal of apprehension and feelings of inadequacy. I came to realize that God’s faithfulness to me and to them didn’t depend on me. There were tearful prayers for students and for myself. Each week of investing time, planting seeds of Truth, weeding out lies and challenging faulty thinking, unhealthy relationships, idols, sin and anything else that set itself up against the Word, led to an unspeakable harvest.

God did what God always does. He was faithful. He opened eyes, increased understanding and bound unlikely hearts together in love. Students began taking steps of faith that led to bigger steps of faith. They began to see themselves as poetic masterpieces, perfect and complete. They recognized that what they saw as flaws and imperfections were actually perfect for the good works that God had prepared in advance for them.

I have had several conversations over the past few weeks with mentors who are feeling less than adequate to meet the needs of their students. We have students asking to be challenged, mentors who are feeling overwhelmed and completely “challenged” by their students and a couple of students who have not responded well to being challenged.

There are a couple of things to remember as we grow with our students. The first is just that, we are growing together with our students.  We are being stretched beyond our comfort zones into a place that is unfamiliar. God wants us blind.  He calls us to walk that path by light of His Word.  God is faithful.  God is perfect.  God is adequate. God is able.    You are not perfect and will not be perfect in this.  It’s okay.  God knew this when He called you.  He works all things together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.  He brings the harvest; He controls the outcome.

 Be encouraged, my friends!  It’s not always easy but it’s always good!