The Fullness of God’s Grace

I am a pastor . . .
beginning my 37th year in August. It is difficult sometimes to know whether I
am making an impact or not. Working with people is one of the most stressful
careers there is. One management guru placed the pastor’s stress on the same level
of university presidents, corporation CEOs and even the President of the US.
Such distinguished ranking doesn’t improve my comfort level.

Over the years, I
have made mistakes . . . allowed the wrong attitude out . . . exhibited a wrong
spirit . . . even preached the wrong sermon at the wrong time. We pastors are
human, too! It is amazing that in the heat of the moment every one but me could
see the error. “every man’s ways are right in his own eyes . . .”

Each congregation I
have served has been very gracious and understanding and wonderfully kind. I
don’t know how well I do the job because I only pay attention to  my flaws. This is not something I would
counsel others to do. I guess I just want to be better . . . the best I can be
for God.

Now every once in a
while, there are moments of “glory.” Something just clicks. The
congregation is in the groove and I hitch a ride. For a while we worship and
minister together, we enjoy the presence of God together.

O what a thrill!
Evidently this is what grace feels like . . . manna from heaven . . . sitting
at the feet of Jesus. Grace . . . undeserved, unexplained and unexpected. As
pastors, we want to orchestrate everything. We want to know why it happened and
how it happened so we can repeat it again and again. But, as we all know God
doesn’t move like that. He loves spontaneity. Perhaps that is why he created
snowflakes . . . each one different but perfect. God’s grace is always perfect,
even when I’m not.

Dear Father, thank
you for your perfect grace applied to me in my weaknesses. Grant that we may
serve you to the best of our ability. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN