Keep Calm? Are You CRAZY?

If you believe that being a member of the Clergy means we are free from frustration, irritation, and the desire to use unkind words (and in our minds punching someone), then you will probably want to steer clear of Ministry as a career.

Let me explain: on Wednesday, I had a calendar full of events and appointments.  I had planned very carefully how to make it to each event and appointment early so I could have time to gather my thoughts, pray, and then go into action.  However, when I make plans, God proves that He has quite the sense of humor because every single driver I got behind apparently had no clue that the vertical pedal on the right makes the car move.  No matter which lane every car I got behind slowed down.  So much for arriving early (although I was early for the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service).

When it came time for a hospital visit at Lexington Medical Center, I got stuck in the traffic on the exit ramp for almost an hour (whoever designed the traffic flow for that location should be shot).  While making that visit my phone was blowing up with robocalls from spoofed numbers (and I seemed to have called myself twice).

Stopped at the grocer to renew my supply of office candy.  I had 4 items in the express line.  The person in front of me had food enough to find the source of the Nile.  Therefore, that was another 45 minute wait in line at a grocer who only had 2 lines open. After ringing up all this customers purchases, out came the coupons (many of which were expired which led to a rather heated debate), finally the purchase was made and the customer had to look at every item on the receipt to make sure they weren't being over charged.  Because of this lengthy exchange, I was a few minutes late to a Swearing In at the Sheriff's Office.

This continued all day, wherever I went.  So by the time I was ready to come home, I knew my blood pressure was probably at the exploding point, so I stopped off to calm down and have some coffee.  I re-read the devotional passage and had a few choice words for God because the passage was Psalm 131:2, "I have calmed and quieted myself."  David, the Beloved of God, must not have ever had such a frustrating day if he was able to calm and quiet himself!  And yet, perhaps he actually did have such a day because if he quieted and calmed himself then he was not quiet and calm before.  I could literally feel God's WHACK to my forehead.  Instead of lashing out at Him as I had intended, I had to confess my heart and ask forgiveness.

The second part of verse two reminds us that when a child is upset, they seek the comfort of their parent to handle and resolve what's bothering them.  That's what I needed (and still need) to do.  Then it hit me, yet again, God is the one in control of ALL things!  My frustration, irritation, anger, and unkind words were my effort to take over God's job and God used all the days events to remind me He truly is the one in charge.  When I finally realized that, Calm and Quiet replaced all that had been within me.

I'll leave you with Psalm 131:3. "O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—now and always."  God is God, and we are not, so let Him do His job.

Learning to Fly Free!

The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. 

My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.

John 10:10 

 

2016 was not a good year.  Well, not for me anyway.  I lost family members.  I lost friends.  I performed more funerals in 2016 than I have ever done in a single year before.  There were family struggles.  There were health issues.  There were all sorts of frustrations and irritations that demanded my time and attention (and I was dumb enough to let them steal my time, attention, and joy).  Do you think that was God's purpose?  Do you think God planned for me to have such a bad year?  I do!

 

Let me explain:  There is an old proverb that says, "The gem cannot shine without friction, nor man become perfected without trials."  You see, and I've said this before, if we had a life where everything happened the way we wanted and we had not stress or worries or unpleasantness.....what kind of life would that be?  A life of ignorance, because we wouldn't learn anything.  We would become self-absorbed because we would expect life to be perfect.  

 

Through our trials we learn.  We learn to rely on others (even reaching out to others).  We learn that we have do adapt.  We learn that there really are people who want to help.  We learn that there are people who genuinely care.  And, most importantly, we learn that God carries us through each trouble.

Stretched

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

  

Ever have one of those days (weeks, months, years or lifetime thus far) where you felt pulled in so many directions that you felt as though you should have been a cartoon octopus?  People calling you and, while you're on the phone, texts are coming in from multiple people and, while you're trying to deal with all the communication, more and more waves of responsibilities or the "and all other duties" statement of your job description has just kicked into nuclear overdrive.  No matter how much you accomplish, ten more items fill that void, lest you become bored and actually have the time to breathe.

I'm going to most likely step on some toes here, but here goes. This past week has been one of those weeks where my mind finally had gone numb from the overload of expectations. I sent out a message for help and received such wonderful responses such as "Praying for you from the Beach" and "Sorry to hear that, but this vacation is AWESOME!"  I felt defeated, deflated, frustrated and irritated to say the least.  I even told my longsuffering bride that just once, I'd like for someone to come to us and say, "You need to get away, let me fill in for a week while you rest and relax."  

But then, true to form, 1:27 in the morning, was rather rudely awakened because of the sense that God wanted to chat.  Got some coffee, sat in my chair, and only got two stitches of the latest BUBBA done when it hit me, I'm only human!  God made me in His image, but that does not mean I have endless energy.  We, as humans, have not been filled with boundless endurance to keep going long after the capacity has been reached.  

Then, today's verse made a little more sense.  I was weary.  I was heavy laden.  I needed rest. But I had no idea how or when that would happen.  What I did learn was this, when we feel overwhelmed and exhausted, we need to share that burden!  Talk with God about it!  Rely on each other to actually step up and help out, especially if they expect the same from us.