Sunday, 9 AM & 10:30 AM: Preach on Restful Contentment
Next 24 hours: 65 text messages, 47 emails, and 26 phone calls

I’m not complaining. Not at all. It’s a sacred trust being the pastor who people call in the middle of their crisis. It’s both deeply satisfying and incredibly heavy. It’s not something I take for granted – to be invited into these moments. I’ve prayed when families couldn’t speak. I’ve listened when they had no one else to speak to. I’ve been the calming voice in the middle of the storm, and at times I’ve been the clarion siren pointing out the rocks they are about to crash into.

There’s no real blueprint for this. We are completely relying the Spirit to speak, nudge, move, whisper. At the center of this, I understand that my primary role is one of presence. To help us all remember that God is here, in the middle of this mess.

And yes, I get tired too. So if you ever wondered if the pastor REALLY has to apply what he preaches about on Sunday? The answer is yes. Absolutely. Positively. 100%.

I have to BELIEVE that Jesus is in the middle of every storm. That’s His history. He’s got a great track record. So I’m not believing blindly or without confidence. He’s in the storms of my own creation and the ones that are thrown at me. And He IS working. He is working for GOOD. I may not see it… now. So I pray for eyes to see… eventually.

I have to WAIT. Wait for His timing. It frustrates me that God is never early. Never. He doesn’t bend to my timetable. He doesn’t seem to care that I have this all planned out in my mind. He doesn’t seem particularly in a hurry either. I suspect this is due to Him being more concerned about the character He is trying to form in me than the actual outcome of the situation. So, I’m learning to wait. I’m learning to adopt to His timeline, not insist on mine.

I have to EMBRACE. Embrace the moment. Pray that He makes me content. Pray that I find my contentment in Him because He is enough. Have I experienced Him enough to know that He is enough? I have to embrace that in my humanity I need Him.

And I need Him more now than the day I decided to first follow Him.