He sat in my office exhausted and discouraged. No, he wasn’t about to
abandon the ministry to which he’d been called. In many ways he lived
with a deep sense of privilege. He had been chosen and gifted to be a
minister of the gospel, but he was tired, and his work had taken a toll
on his family. He was able to admit that he said yes too much, sought to
establish personal control over too many things, and worked way too
much. He had thought that his deep dedication and unending schedule were
the result of the motivation and loyalty of faith, but in midst of his
exhaustion and his family’s protest, he began to wonder. Could it be
that this life of frenetic energy and constant ministry focus was driven
by something else?
His wife told him again and again that he needed to be around more
for their four children. She told him that even when he was home, he
often wasn’t “there.” And in his quiet, self-reflective moments he had
to admit that his heart wasn’t at rest. Little did my pastor friend know
that he was not alone. His story is the story of many pastors.
Could it be that one of the dark secrets of pastoral ministry is
that a whole lot of what we do is driven by worry and not by faith? Keep Reading...
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