I want to be like certain people I have met or watched over the years.
I want to be like Fred Rogers. I want to be like the fictional character Father Brown. I want to be like my Uncle Warren.
What each of these men have in common is a gentleness and compassion and what appears to be a “centeredness” of peace and calm in Christ in the middle of whatever is going on.
- I don’t want to fret and worry about every little thing.
- I don’t want to spend all my time analyzing things, second-guessing myself or living in doubt.
- I don’t want to be upended, shaken or distraught over every passing storm or every disapproving glance from others.
- I don’t want to be constantly wondering if I am wasting my time or whether I am actually accomplishing anything at all.
And yet, much of the time, it seems this is exactly where I live.
- I want to be a pastor that has a calm assurance that God is working, and that He is working in me and through me.
- I want to be a pastor that looks at people with eyes of compassion and a heart full of love
- I want to be a pastor that is not hurried or harried but instead walks in the peace-filled confidence that God is leading me
I hope your prayer is the same as mine:
Dear Father,
Please help me to find shalom and shabbat in you.
Please help me to simply rest in the knowledge that you are working, leading, speaking and redeeming.
Please help me to be a conduit of your love and an instrument of your grace.
Lord please let me find a deep inner sense of calm as I abide in you.
You are the vine, I am the branch. Let me remain in you and therefore as you source me, may I bear fruit.
Please help me to never be lazy, but neither to “figure it out” on my own.
Instead let me simply be the vessel you fill and use
For your honor and glory and for the full salvation of all.
In Jesus’ name I pray
AMEN
Pastor, remember Christ is with us and Christ is in us.
You are loved!
Pastor Michael Johnson 