A simple Google search for “current status of pastors” tells us that you are one tired, lonely, looking-over-your-shoulder, waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop bunch! Of course, not every pastor is in the place that recent research reveals, but I believe that Scripture exhorts that if even one pastor is within these limiting boundaries, that’s one pastor too many.
Did you know that distress actually has the power to drive us toward a deeper journey with Jesus, if we will allow for it? At least according to the apostle Paul, it does. Paul wrote: “You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from Him. The result was all gain, no loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets” (2 Cor. 7:9-10, MSG).
I don’t know about you, but I tend to avoid distress of just about any kind (more on that in a minute). Yet Paul seems to encourage us to see painful distress as an opportunity to let Jesus into some of the places we may try to keep Him away from.
“Instead of letting my distress bring me to God, I was allowing it to take me from Him. Even though I have a wife who is a nurse that encourages and exemplifies healthy decisions, my unhealthy choices were just way more fun and helped relieve my stress—or so it seemed, anyway!”
Paul went on to say that when we allow our distress to drive us toward Jesus, instead of away from Him, we actually become “more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart” (v. 11).
Remember that I mentioned my tendency to avoid distress? Yeah, that became crystal clear a few months ago at my annual physical. The past several years, my A1C blood test (the one that measures for sugar in your blood and is used to diagnose diabetes) was regularly measuring in “pre-diabetic” range. This condition can be managed more easily through healthier food management and exercise.
Diabetes, both Type 1 and Type 2, runs in my family, as does difficulty in weight management. You would think these facts would make me wise up to endure the pain set before me to take better care of myself and make better decisions about these matters. Instead of letting my distress bring me to God, I was allowing it to take me from Him. Even though I have a wife who is a nurse that encourages and exemplifies healthy decisions, my unhealthy choices were just way more fun and helped relieve my stress—or so it seemed, anyway!
When this year’s physical came upon me, guess what? My A1C was way over the normal limit. Thankfully, my doctor is a big believer in a person’s ability to turn this diagnosis around. With his support, my wife’s help, and lots of friends cheering me on, I am well on the way back to health. I am on the way to being what Paul said in 2 Cor. 7:11—more alive, concerned, sensitive, reverent, human, passionate and responsible. I hope these words become more familiar to you, too.
I am especially grateful that I did not come into the diagnosis symptomatically, and further checks have so far shown no damage done. I have friends, other family members and a number of pastors I have worked with over the years who have not fared so well. Sadly, some have even lost their lives.
I don’t want to go that direction, and I’m sure you don’t want to go that way, either. We have much to accomplish together for the cause of more and growing leaders together on mission.
Go deeper:
Take the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Personal Assessment here, and consider starting a journey toward integrating your emotional health with your spiritual maturity.
Peruse the Emotionally Healthy Leadership podcast episodes and begin with an episode of most interest to you. (Fair warning: You’ll hardly be able to stop listening.)
When was the last time you “got outta Dodge?” Schedule some time away at one of our Centers for Spiritual Renewal.
