a note to myself

Dear Adam,

You know that sometimes we pastors have no right to complain. We have a great job that we certainly do not deserve serving a great God whose love and character and goodness cannot be exaggerated. We get a front row seat to watching God work miracles and reshape people's broken lives into vessels carrying his life, love, and gospel to places that have been completely renewed by its presence.

But you also know that sometimes being a pastor is hard. We often work amidst the darkest of human circumstances dealing with the parts of people's lives that are drowned in secret sin and hurt that has been devastating them. And we get a front row seat to hurts and pains like divorces, death, and sin that has crippled lives and given death dominance.

But regardless of circumstances, you must remember that your calling has not changed. Somehow, God has chosen you to proclaim the reality of his kingdom. So believe this--especially in the hard weeks like this one:

As a pastor, I must remind myself at all times that my goal is to challenge myself and those with whom I walk that:

the gospel is bigger than what I am struggling with most, 

God loves us more than we can hate ourselves or him, 

Life conquers death always.

 In Christ,

Adam