Posts Tagged 'Moses'

the glass

God treats his most faithful servants like crap. They suffer all the time. Go down the line:  Joseph (unjustly accused and thrown into prison), Moses (banished by God for 40 years into the desert for some “character development”), Samuel gives his life for his people and they never really listen to him, David constantly running for his life from a King God appointed, Solomon like his father had kids who hated him and hated each other, Jeremiah quite possibly a sufferer of clinical depression, Hosea is told to marry a whore so that Israel has a picture of God’s love, Ezekiel’s wife dies in the middle of his ministry.” (author withheld)

So the glass is half empty?

Never mind that Joseph, because of God’s desire to interpret dreams through him, rose to a level of power and authority in the world that no Hebrew could dream of.

Let’s not talk about how the creator and guider of the waters lead Moses’ basket into the arms of a Pharaoh’s daughter, split the waters at the touch of his staff or brought the entire Jewish legal system into existence through his relationship.

Don’t look at how Samuel’s entire life was anointed by God - that such a simple boy, from such an unlikely past, would become one of God’s most powerful voices in a dark and unjust time.

And David - you mean the Hebrew hillbilly who became the namesake king in the lineage of our Savior? His son Solomon, the wisest man ever to live - given his wisdom as a gift from God, unparallel to any other gift in Scripture.

Then, Jeremiah came along, the one man in all of time that God entrusted with His vision - not only for generations to come, but for all of humanity.

And Hosea, the man to whom God gave such a vivid and powerful message of His will that generations today are still gasping at his clarity, integrity and resolve.

But all these things are but waste compared to the unmachless reward these men receive because of their faith. It wasn’t the earthly rewards, the accolades of man or the promotion of self that drove any of these men - therefore the earthy struggles, insults from men and demotion of self did not deter them from their faith in God.

If the glass is half empty, it is only for the brief time these men served their God on earth. Now the glass is full - even overflowing.

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How we view things impacts how people around us view things. How we talk about God changes the way people who listen to our voice interact with God. It is critical we do not get caught up in negativity, but focus our lives on the greatness of God and the name of Jesus as the only truly good thing in life and the promise for all of creation’s restoration.

What are your thoughts? What would you change or add?

overwhelmed

It is a problem that plagues ministry today. A disease that destroys. An epidemic.

Burned out pastors.

Mark Driscoll did the research a while back:

  • Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
  • Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
  • Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

And perhaps the most devastating:

  • The majority of pastor’s wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

How screwed up is that?

I won’t pretend to be an expert on burnout, I’ve only been doing full time ministry for a few years, but I have seen and heard some stuff I use to focus my ministry.

Scripture would point us to the story of Moses and Jethro. Moses was trying to do everything - Jethro came along and basically said “delegate!” Ultimately Moses’ obedience in delegation was what paved the road for one of Israel’s most defining moments - God delivering the law to the people.

Bottom line in Scripture - Delegation creates space for God to move.

I’ve sat under Ed Young for nearly a decade now and one thing that has remained a constant is his foundational belief in the power of volunteers. Keeping a small staff forces us to utilize volunteers. It is moving the ministry to the masses.

Bill Hybels would point us to self-leadership. My duty to keep myself on track. I am a follower before I am a leader. I need to ask myself, am I having my quiet times? Eating right? Exercising? Creating time to dream?

Is my life operating in such a way that I can be the leader God designed me to be?

Ultimately all of these steps can (and will) be met with excuses. “I have to do it myself.” “It’s just a season.” “I don’t have the volunteers/staff.”

However, I have not been able to find a pastor who has created space for God to work, pulled others in ministry around them and made the leadership of self a priority and is still burned out.

See all of Mark’s post: Death By Ministry. | Check out the website for Anne Jackson’s book: Mad Church Disease.


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