Keeping Things in Perspective

It has been some time since I've posted.  In fact I noticed that I had fewer posts in September than any month since I started blogging and this is the first one this month.  Much of that has to do with having had a tough month at which point blogging takes a back seat--way in the back of the bus.  

We finished our vacation time for this year the end of the first week of September.  We had a great time on Vancouver Island with our son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons who we hadn't seen in  a year.  So it was tough saying goodbye, coming back home and getting back into the routine.  And being September also meant life was busy at church--the  Fall start up of AWANA, Sunday School, Small Group study, as well as other things that happen this time of year.  All things that add to my work load.  I was starting to feel some pressure.

But that was just the beginning.  Before long I was neck deep in dealing with issues of various sorts that caused me a fair bit of stress.  I guess the honeymoon of being the new pastor is over and I started feeling those old familiar stirrings of reluctancy in pastoring.  And I started arguing with God about why He keeps putting me back into pastoral ministry when I can't handle it. 

So I've tried to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective--hopefully a more godly one.  I've tried to see some good in all this.  One thing I was reminded of is something I have reminded others of in the past: we should expect problems and conflict in the church.  The church is made up of sinners saved by grace and in the process of being sanctified, but certainly not there yet.  The New Testament church had problems; so will we.  In fact I suspect that God uses these things to grow us.  The key is to act rightly when the problems and issues come.  All of that to say, problems should not surprise me/us.

Along the same line, a step back helped me realize that the devil is at work because God is at work.  Things have gone quite well in my first year in the church.  God has been moving in a couple salvations, some baptisms, some growth in individuals and the church.  It is inevitable that Satan is going to try to undo that.  I find it frustrating that we let him trick us and use us to do his dirty work, but I need to keep in mind that this is a battle and we have an enemy.  That enemy is not one another, but the evil one.

Another thing I've realized is that all of this pressure has affected my walk with God for good.  I have felt a greater weakness, a greater need and gone to the right place to find strength and God has shown Himself faithful.  He has listened to my doubts and complaints and cries for help and has not only given help and wisdom in some situations, but inner strength and peace in the midst of stress and fatigue.  

And finally, I have realized that my struggles are a walk on the beach compared to what others have gone through and are going through.  This hit me particularly hard this past week with the news of the death of Pastor Terry Stauffer's 14-year-old daughter in Alberta.  Pastor Terry is an acquaintance and my heart goes out to them as my prayers go to Heaven on their behalf.  My struggles are real enough, but not on the same scale as the pain this family and many others are facing.  It reminds me how much I have to be thankful for. 

Dave