Emotional Extremes
03/05/10 08:29 AM Filed in: From the Pastor
Lord, the past several days have been busier than normal and certainly challenging. Well, perhaps not all that unusually busy but everything sure seems to be moving at an incredible pace. Maybe it's not the busyness that I feel, but the emotional and spiritual tug-of-war that pulls me from one extreme to another.
In a two-day period our church said good-bye to a few week old infant and an eighty-eight year old prayer warrior. Now, today, a dear friend my age and attendee in our early service has died of brain cancer. Tonight we get word that a mom and her new baby had a difficult delivery and that serious prayer is needed.
There is more, much more, but writing more would give details that are mostly confidential. There have been surgeries, with more scheduled in the next few days. A marriage crisis here and there, a misunderstanding among friends, and a challenging matter that requires my input. And Lord, did you know we have a little building project happening in our sanctuary and a much needed parking lot expansion that is delayed because of the weather?
It's not been all bad or difficult news. In fact, there are so many good things happening to rejoice about. Lord, why does it seem that our focus is pulled toward those things that bring struggle? Maybe it's because God's kingdom is always in motion and full of energy, both of which create what some have termed "life-friction." Is that what this is all about, Lord? I'm just feeling what it means to be alive, living as salt and light with other believers in a culture and world that is lost and searching.
Lord, in the midst of it all and above all else you've called our pastoral staff to "equip all the believers at Christ's Chapel" for the ministry (Ephesians 4). We certainly already have tremendous volunteers and I'm fully aware that our church as we know it would come to a grinding halt without them. Thank-you, Lord, for all those that give themselves so freely as servants to our church family. We need so many more. I trust that this Saturday's ministry training gives us a shot in the arm as our church grows and the ministry demands increase. This week is proof positive that we work as a team, serve as a team and succeed as a team. Lord, I ask you to strengthen, equip and enlarge that team by your power and grace. Amen.
In a two-day period our church said good-bye to a few week old infant and an eighty-eight year old prayer warrior. Now, today, a dear friend my age and attendee in our early service has died of brain cancer. Tonight we get word that a mom and her new baby had a difficult delivery and that serious prayer is needed.
There is more, much more, but writing more would give details that are mostly confidential. There have been surgeries, with more scheduled in the next few days. A marriage crisis here and there, a misunderstanding among friends, and a challenging matter that requires my input. And Lord, did you know we have a little building project happening in our sanctuary and a much needed parking lot expansion that is delayed because of the weather?
It's not been all bad or difficult news. In fact, there are so many good things happening to rejoice about. Lord, why does it seem that our focus is pulled toward those things that bring struggle? Maybe it's because God's kingdom is always in motion and full of energy, both of which create what some have termed "life-friction." Is that what this is all about, Lord? I'm just feeling what it means to be alive, living as salt and light with other believers in a culture and world that is lost and searching.
Lord, in the midst of it all and above all else you've called our pastoral staff to "equip all the believers at Christ's Chapel" for the ministry (Ephesians 4). We certainly already have tremendous volunteers and I'm fully aware that our church as we know it would come to a grinding halt without them. Thank-you, Lord, for all those that give themselves so freely as servants to our church family. We need so many more. I trust that this Saturday's ministry training gives us a shot in the arm as our church grows and the ministry demands increase. This week is proof positive that we work as a team, serve as a team and succeed as a team. Lord, I ask you to strengthen, equip and enlarge that team by your power and grace. Amen.