day after
the day after is one of the roughest days pastors can have, says a friend of mine. i trust this friend. he has been doing was i attempt to do for many years. and he claims, rightfully so, that when there is a “big” day for pastors; Christmas, Easter, etc…, the “day after” tends to be less than jubilant.
many were saved. many were baptized. service went well. new folks were reached for Jesus. but for some reason, i feel like crap. why?
why does this phenomenon occur?
in my limited experience i have but a few thoughts to offer on the subject.
you see, when we have had a tiring day, most of us come home, plop on the couch and flip on the tv. some may take a nap, stuff our face with burger king, or just sit there staring at the wall like a cat, but so few of us come home, especially us pastors, and find our rest in God. we associate “God” with our jobs or work and when we come home, we just “want a break from all that.”
the scriptures tell us over and over that we find our rest in God. not tv, naps, food or friends. those are all great, as a matter of fact i experienced each one of those yesterday. But, when those become our replacement, in rest, for God, we come to a problem.
a large problem.
one so large in fact, it not only shakes our lives up, but our relationship with Jesus. when we think we can only experience the grace, mercy, and peace God has on “work days” or “when i go to church” or “when i go to my small group” we’re really not experiencing Jesus.
which is quite unfortunate.
because when we seek Jesus for rest, we are fully rested. we not only find rest, relaxation and comfort, but he gives us strength. strength for our job, school and ministry. strength we cannot find on our own. we can only go so long on our own strength.
think of it like this…
our own strength = a battery. we can power ourselves for a while, but eventually we need to be recharged. some of us may have a long battery life, others may run out very quickly. whatever the scenario, we all run out of juice at some time.
Gods strength in us = plugging into the socket. God has an infinite supply of power for us, but we need to make the choice to plug in to God’s power. and yes, it will charge our battery, and we will be able to operate away from the wall, but always for a finite time.
john 15 chapter 5 says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
my encouragement to all, in light of this, is to plug in to God. plug in to his power, his strength. and to all, don’t let the “day after syndrome” hit you and fall back on whatever “comfort” things we have in our life, but fall back on Jesus, and his everlasting life.
it takes 21 days to form a habit. create a habit of leaning on Jesus for rest.
it’s the only rest that gets us through the day.
-A