"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God." --2 Corinthians 4:15
We are called to reach out to people. Constantly. We are called to love each other with the love of Christ because He first loved us. There are always those who we have a difficult time loving - although, that as much as that happens, we should love unconditionally because we are loved in that manner by our Creator. Those people that are hard to love, for me, becomes a challenge and a person to reach out to extra.
Once that challenge has passed, if it ever does, our call to ministry does not pass. We have a never ending ministry to love and serve the Lord in all that we do. This challenge, though not easily accomplished, will never disappear.
The ultimate challenge: do not lose heart.
Even when the view is foggy and it's difficult to decipher the future.
Trust.
Trust that His plan is the perfect and pleasing one He promised us. (Romans 12:2)
When our heart is lost amidst what we set our eyes upon, purpose and meaning is lost as well. We fully serve when we are serving the Lord completely. We when we lose heart, we lose hope. When we lose hope, we limit our sight -- our sight into what our purpose is to fulfill in this life. What we see now is temporary, because unfortunately, we are constantly being blinded by the "god of this age" (2 Cor 4:4). This "god" takes numerous forms that at times, I, indeed, am unwilling to admit.
Ultimately, we need to look to the unseen. We must strive to see what more there is to this life that we get caught up in every day. We should look towards the goal - the kingdom of heaven on earth as it is in heaven.
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -- 2 Corinthians 4.18
