This one is for my fellow pastors. Joe McKeever wrote about Dr. Joe Cothen, a retired pastor, seminary educator and his two brothers, both Baptist pastors. Dr. Cothen recalled the day his father sat all three boys down to give them some wise counsel about being a pastor. “Boys,” he said, “the Lord has put a delicate balance in His church. He put just enough headstrong, ornery members there to keep you, the pastor, humble. He also put just enough sweet, godly saints there to keep you from quitting.” Dr. Cothen stated that in every church he pastored, he found both groups.
The issue is where you focus your mind and heart. If you focus on the negative group, the critics, and naysayers, you will become discouraged and want to quit. If you focus on the positive, supportive group, you fun the risk of a ballooning ego. Either way, you are unsuitable for God’s use. The key according to the Prophet Isaiah is that you keep your mind and heart focused on God! Your call to pastoral work is not to feed your ambition or ego. It is not to provide an extravagant lifestyle for your family. It is not to provide a steppingstone to something bigger or better. Your call to ministry is the same as His call to all who follow Him: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…” Those are the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 6:33. The Lord Jesus is our Focus and Anchor. The Holy Spirit is our Guide, Protector, Provider, and Power. And according to Isaiah 26:3-4, when our hearts and minds are fixed on God, the result is perfect peace in every circumstance.
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
