When Things Don’t Go As Planned…

Monday I had one of those days.  I received a string of bad news regarding plans that I thought were in place for the ministry.  So it’s back to the drawing board.  It was not the way I had planned to start off my Monday.
The past week was wonderful, albeit stressful.  I did a string of hospital visits on Sunday following worship.  Interestingly however, I was inspired to make those calls because an old friend of mine from my media days paid us a surprise visit and we followed it up with lunch.
But by the middle of the day on Monday I was feeling a need to retreat, relax, and renew.  Health took care of that for me.  I woke up Tuesday morning with a horrible case of Strep Throat.  So my body was forced to shut down for a few hours.
In many ways, I should practice what I preached on Sunday in my sermon.  The disciples, after returning to Jerusalem from Jesus’ ascension into heaven, went to the upper room where they were staying and devoted themselves to prayer. [Acts 1:14]
Unlike the disciples, however, a pastor doesn’t always have a community that he can immediately turn to for encouragement.  Yes, we do have clergy associations that meet regularly and individual relationships with other clergy that offer mutual support.  But most often, the pastor functions as a Lone Ranger.  And if he or she wants to reach out, pride often prevents one from doing so.  I did, by the way, make three telephone calls to colleagues of mine seeking some advice and consolation.  But none were available.
Although I have to stay quarantined for about another half day, the day away has done me a world of good.  God does have a way of solving our problems.