The Purpose of Disappointment

I am reflecting on a message that I had preached two weeks ago. I find that the more that I learn about the Lord the more I don't know. At the church that I pastor we began having a service just for the core group since we began on 1/21/07. I have been doing a series on Leadership called "What a Leader must Be, Know and Do." On this particular Sunday I was dealing with how a leader must know how to relate to those that he or she is serving. I stressed that God has made us a blessing so that we can be a blessing. I also stressed that if you look at it most of the blessings that we receive have come through a person since the Lord works through man in order to accomplish his will on earth. That's pretty interesting. Man partnering with God to accomplish his will on earth. As I was reflecting on what I had taught it occurred to me that even though the blessing may have come through a person we are still not to depend on them but God and Him alone. I also discovered that if people did not disappoint us we would never really turn to God. This is very simple and not even deep at all but it was very liberating. As a pastor of a new church with very limited resources and having to depend on people to support this new work it can be very disappointing at times wanting to more but being very limited. The disappointment that I feel sometimes makes me second guess myself at times not seeing the progress that I would like to see. I have come to the conclusion that the measure of a church and its ministry is not in numbers or buildings but rather it is in how relevant the church is to the community it serves and how efficient that church is in serving that community. As I work in my adopted community I see so many needs but I feel so helpless at times. This disappointment I feel makes me cry out to the Lord even more and rely on Him more as well. Maybe this isn't about launching a new church. Could it be about me learning to rely on him as we carry out the great commission?