Encouraging!

Ministry can be at times... exhausting! Sermons and bible studies to prepare, meetings to attend, people to visit, fires to extinguish... and in the midst of all of this making family a priority. There is also the expectations that come with a ministry position from those outside of ministry... especially for the pastor. People always have a perception... that often does not match the Bible or God's direction... and when you do not follow "their" path to ministry perfection, they get upset... something else to deal with. All of this stress can often cause God's man to question God's purpose in calling him to minister to people. This is very often a lonely position.

However, God seems to have a way of recharging our batteries... refocusing our sights on the real reason for ministry. Yesterday I had a lady come to my office to share what God is doing in her life. She said that in all her years of attending church that she had never been drawn to a relationship with God. She really did not understand the whole aspect of having a close, personal relationship with the God of heaven... it had never been taught! She shared with me that over the past year she has learned things that she had never heard... that she has grown as a follower of Jesus Christ more in the past 12 months than she had for 35+ years! Her quote to me was amazing... "I never knew it could be this good!" She began to tear up and thank me for leading as God has called me at OBC. I told her that it gets even better as we continue to seek His glory! I share this story for one reason... God quickly put in perspective for me why he called me to ministry. He did not call me to ministry to attend meetings or squabble with people over meaningless, petty complaints. God called me to ministry to affect kingdom change in the lives of the people He places me in the midst of... to help disciple them to be loving followers of Jesus Christ! Thank you Father for the perspective... and thank you to the lady who visited her pastor yesterday with encouraging words!

Pastor Sean

Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (Ephesians 4:29)