When COVID-19 started in early 2020, we did not know much about Zoom. Some of us were nervous about ‘Zooming.’ It looked complicated. Today, it’s a small thing for many. It has become common, familiar and useful for work and play, especially when tighter COVID-19 restrictions were implemented.

Meeting each other digitally is convenient and beneficial but when it comes to reaching out to youth and children, it is challenging for me. Perhaps even more so than physical interaction during pre-pandemic times.

As someone who works with young people in my church and occasionally children in SYFC, there were times when I felt that reaching out to them on Zoom is simply ineffective. At times, online programmes seem pointless. Also, I am discouraged by the youth and children’s lack of attention behind their laptop cameras. Consequently, I became disinterested, flippant,
and inauthentic in God’s service.

However, I was reminded of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. He was fearful, helpless, depressed, and even suicidal as he ran away in the desert from Jezebel.

This was an outcome he probably never imagined to find himself in. Not especially after the way God was clearly on his side, gloriously defeating Baal and the false prophets by bringing the much-needed rain.
This story taught me the crucial lesson that when the results or circumstances of my service seem to turn sour, I must still obey and seek God. This focus keeps me faithful to Him, trusting Him even when the results in my ministry are not what I had expected.

While online ministry can look fruitless and discouraging, I want to remember that I serve an unchanging, sovereign God who did not forsake Elijah. May God’s Spirit enable me to remain obedient to Him in dry seasons and find joy in the glimpses of fruitfulness He may reveal to me.