Wednesday, September 30

Today’s Readings: Esther 1:1-21; Acts 4:13-31; Psalm 124

If you were to ask me what the greatest challenge I face as a pastor is, you might be surprised with my answer. "My greatest challenge," I would say, "is having to face the feelings of inadequacy."

You see no matter what we do, it seems as if we are always in the position of either letting someone down or offending someone. If we support one social justice issue, for instance, folks question why we chose to focus on that issue instead of another. If we spend time making lots of pastoral visits during the week, there is always someone who feels left out because we didn’t get to them. And if we chose a particular hymn for the worship service, someone will undoubtedly have issues with our choice because of the hymn’s language or theology. At times it can feel as if nothing we ever do is good enough. Oy!

Maybe you have felt that way at some point in your life.

So how do we pastors do it? How do we get out of bed each day in light of these feelings of inadequacy?

Well, on our good days we live in right relationship with God and get a taste of the boldness that Peter and John exhibited in today’s passage from Acts. The more we live in right relationship with God, the more likely we are able to give voice to the sentiment contained in Peter and John’s words: “we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard” (Acts 4:20 from The Message)!

So what about you? How do you live your life? Do you come from a place of inadequacy, a place of boldness, or perhaps a place somewhere between those two extremes? Whatever the case, find time to celebrate those moments in your life (frequent or fleeting) where you connect with the Spirit and find yourself feeling as if you cannot keep quiet about what you’ve seen and heard! Til next time…