Shepherds can't be wimps
Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 1:41 am
I remember a time in college when a bunch of my friends and I were hanging out and someone commented, "This whole college thing would be so great if it weren't for the classes." I laughed at that, but it reminds me that sometimes we get so turned around that the central things of life come to be viewed as distractions or obstacles to the secondary things.
When I am at a birthday party or small group where the fellowship is particularly sweet, I sometimes find myself thinking, "Why can't it always just be like this? Church would be so great if it weren't for all the trials of life."
The truth is that life is full of trouble. It is a part of life, and one that God so often uses to produce the best things in us. I love the New Living Translation's rendition of James 1:2-4 - Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
On one occasion I'd helped a struggling parishioner through a trial in his life (one that actually seemed minor to me but had really messed him up), and he asked me with admiration in his voice, "How do you keep from freaking out all the time with all that you've got on your plate and on your mind? Don't you ever get scared?"
I remember answering him that I do indeed get scared, but God seems to have given me a special capacity to face trials with peace and confidence. I wonder if our capacity to face danger and assume the responsibility for protecting others is one of the chief qualifications for a shepherd.
When I am at a birthday party or small group where the fellowship is particularly sweet, I sometimes find myself thinking, "Why can't it always just be like this? Church would be so great if it weren't for all the trials of life."
The truth is that life is full of trouble. It is a part of life, and one that God so often uses to produce the best things in us. I love the New Living Translation's rendition of James 1:2-4 - Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
On one occasion I'd helped a struggling parishioner through a trial in his life (one that actually seemed minor to me but had really messed him up), and he asked me with admiration in his voice, "How do you keep from freaking out all the time with all that you've got on your plate and on your mind? Don't you ever get scared?"
I remember answering him that I do indeed get scared, but God seems to have given me a special capacity to face trials with peace and confidence. I wonder if our capacity to face danger and assume the responsibility for protecting others is one of the chief qualifications for a shepherd.