Shepherds
Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
Hebrews 13:17
“Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”
Hebrews 12:28
As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
Exodus 17:11-12
Like I shared in last week’s devotional, friends and I saw MercyMe in concert the 17th of February. It was a fantastic evening full of praise and worship of our Lord, with much joy and admittedly, some tears. Their songs move and touch me so deeply. In introducing one of their songs, Even If, Bart Millard, the band’s lead singer, shared the story of his oldest son having juvenile diabetes and the struggles that he as a father has had seeing his child suffer through major health issues. He spoke of the challenges he’s had to stay positive and inspire concert-goers and witness to people, knowing all along that the Lord could deliver his son from this sickness if He so chose to do so. In fact, the lyrics exemplify this challenge:
I’ve stood on this stage night after night/Reminding the broken
It’ll be all right/But right now, oh right now I just can’t
And
They say it only takes a little faith/To move a mountain
Well, good thing/A little faith is all I have, right now
But God, when You choose/To leave mountains unmovable
Oh, give me the strength to be able to sing/It is well with my
soul
I can’t fathom the number of times he has willed himself to sing even though his heart is breaking or his faith is shaken. Although Millard is not a pastor, he is still leading worship and seeking to glorify God in his music. His music is his ministry, and he and his band members need to be remembered in our prayers for all that they are trying to accomplish for the Kingdom.
Similarly, and closer to home, pastors carry a large load on their shoulders as well. It cannot be easy, Sunday after Sunday, to consistently deliver His message when life’s struggles and the enemy’s attacks can distract and threaten to undermine. Pastors and other church leaders are not immune to the slings and arrows the enemy launches, some coming through challenging interactions with people in their congregations and yet others, through their own self-doubt and pity (note, I am painting with a broad brush and generalizing—neither Ray nor Wayne have ever mentioned anything to me about this at all, I promise). If I’m upset with my husband but have to buy a birthday or Valentine’s Day card for him, I struggle because the meaning of the card needs to be sincere—I cannot buy a card just because it’s a card with a pithy message—can’t get one that is all lovey dovey if that is not what I am feeling at the time. It feels disingenuous (the silly thing is—I’m the only one who knows this). I know how challenging it would be to preach a message during a time in which I were in a valley, or had a diminished amount of faith. (I’ll preempt what you may be thinking here—maybe that’s why I’m not up there preaching every week! God sure knows what He is doing, keeping me in the pews, hmmm?)
Here’s where you and I come in, friend. We pray. We pray for our pastors and leaders in the church. We pray for missionaries, itinerant preachers, evangelists, elders—whether we know them or not. For our own pastors, we come up alongside of them, arms out to hug, to lift up, to hold up the proverbial arms of those He set before us as pastors and leaders. We remind them that God is in the valleys as well as the mountaintops. We love on them, knowing they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We become Christ’s hands and feet to them, comforting, helping, all the while demonstrating God’s love to the bod of Christ.
Prayer Requests
· For our pastors and lay leaders in Stone Oak Church
· For our hearts to be prepared for Lent, starting this Ash Wednesday
· For government authorities and leaders at all levels
· For God to be glorified in all that we do
According to an interview I read about the hit Even If, Millard mentions that “Even If is a reminder to people in difficult situations that don’t seem to go away. God was worthy long before any of those circumstances even showed up. This song is a declaration to God that even if He went silent and never said another word, He’s still worthy to be praised and that He’s our greatest hope in the midst of the trial.”
Amen!
Quotes
“Speak the biblical truth, even if it doesn’t meet the approval of the culture.”
“Mountaintops are for views and inspirations, but fruit is grown in the valleys.”
-- Billy Graham