Is It Really?
When I begin to think about the topic of ministry being a joy and honor, I realized my soul was really struggling with it. Each time I read over the word… Joy…I had this gut response of Huh…Nope!…Not resonating!
When I read the word…Honor...I wasn’t feeling that one either. I read it as though my role as a minister’s wife should be more honoring than, let’s say, a plumber’s wife or some “non-ministry” related position.
Granted, this is my perception of the topic and my perception has been known to be wrong from time to time. Actually…I quite frequently misperceive things. But, I am going to talk about my possible misperception because I think it is a good topic.
You see…the part of this topic I am struggling with is that I believe part of this statement is true and part is a lie. The enemy will twist a truth just a tiny bit and in that tiny twist the twist off the truth makes it a lie.
Scripture speaks about joy like this: 
These are just a small sample of the verses speaking about joy in scripture, but in each of these the source of joy is God. These scriptures do not tell us to look elsewhere to find joy.
Scripture speaks about “honor” or a similar word “respect” like this:
honor God, God will honor – 1 Sam 2:30
These scriptures are also a small sampling of the verses on honor and/or respect. Each one of them reflects the honor we are give to people whom God has placed in authority over us (parents, government officials, God himself) or the way we are to respectfully treat others.
I realized the problem when my soul is focused on “ministry” I feel tired, overwhelmed, hurt, inadequate, etc…etc. However, when I change the focus of my soul to God…my emotions change as well. God deserves glory and honor. He deserves my unyielding devotion and praise. He takes my suffering and turns it into gladness. He trades my sorrow for dancing. God alone does all of this and more! I find my joy in Christ alone.
We definitely do not need to be focusing on the honor (as in glory) that should be coming to us because of the role we are in. And when we try to demand respect we will lose it. We earn respect through sincerely and humbly seeking after God (Proverbs 15:33 – The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before the honor.) The honor we have is in our ability to glorify God in the place we find ourselves. Our role as a minister’s wife is the role God gifted, equipped, and fashioned me for in the same way He gifted, equipped, and fashioned you if you find yourself in this same role. You never need to question whether there has been a mistake. God doesn’t make mistakes. If He called your husband to be a minister, He will equip you to the task of minister’s wife. In our weakness, He proves Himself strong.
The Joy and Honor of Glorifying God through ________________. You fill in the blank with whatever role God has you serving in right now (wife, mom, pastor’s wife, minister’s wife, missionary wife, …). 
Place your focus back on Him, Sweet Sister. He is much more beautiful than the messes or even the beauties we might find ourselves currently in.
Blessings to each of you!
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In John 12:26 “My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
Of course, we tend to want people to honor us but in fact, the Lord is the one that honor us when we serve Him. There is also joy when we are obedient to serve Him in whatever capacity He calls to whether we are doing things behind the scene or in the spotlight. It really doesn’t matter what we do as long as He’s glorified and He is increased and we are decreased.