If Only I Wasn't A Pastor...

Dear Friends,

For the past few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about where we find “joy” in life. It all started last week when I was feeling frustrated with a certain situation at the church, and I found myself thinking: “I wouldn’t have these frustrations if I wasn’t a pastor.” Almost immediately, God reminded me that I was right - I wouldn’t have those specific frustrations if I was not a pastor. I would simply have different ones.

This process of God challenging me on my source of joy continued on Monday, when my devotional reading included this statement from the author: “I struggled to maintain joy in my life because I was letting my circumstances dictate my joyfulness. That does not work.” (Paul Tripp, “New Morning Mercies”) That statement immediately connected with my own thoughts from the day before, and got me evaluating how often my joy comes and goes, depending on what is going on in my life.

So with all of that swirling around in my mind, yesterday I asked the Lord to keep me from losing my joy. He has responded in two ways: first, by allowing several situations to come up that could easily make me “un-joyful". And second, by leading me to Habakkuk 3:17-18, which says: “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!”

This passage drives home the truth that our joy and contentment in life should not come from what we have, or from what’s going on around us. Instead, it should come from knowing God and focusing on all He’s done for us. Hebrews 13:5 says it like this: “Be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you and I will never abandon you’.” The reality is that, no matter how wonderful the stuff is that we own, it will get old and wear out - and newer, more wonderful stuff will come along. And no matter what’s going on around us - good or bad - it will pass, and other situations will come along. But what never changes is God, and His love for us. So our joy needs to be built on Him, and on the fact that - out of His love for us - He’s given us a way to be forgiven of our sins and live in fellowship with Him.

So today, as trials and challenges and frustrations come up, let’s ask God to keep us focused on the fact that it’s all okay, because of who He is, and all He’s done. Let’s focus on Him, and on all that He has promised - and let’s allow those things to build and maintain our joy.

Amen?

Daniel