Just Do It!

Today was one of those days where I awoke thinking about the seemingly zillions of things I needed to complete before tomorrow.  Have you ever faced a day like that?  Tomorrow we will be spending the day in San Francisco, about an hour south of us, as we have Piper’s quarterly doctor’s appointment at the Brain Health Center.  By the time all is said and done, it normally entails the entire day and we’ll be home in time for dinner.

Today is the prep day!  It’s the time I get to (not have to… remember!) get my wife ready for her appointment.  I like to wash her hair, make sure that she has the right outfit to wear for the adventure and has everything packed that we need to bring with us for the trip.  It is also the time when I like to organize my file and notes concerning her progress and care over the last three months since her last appointment, and also make a list of all the new questions I want to ask the team at the medical center in the City.  It is sort of like preparing for a teacher/parent conference.  Although in this situation, I am not sure if I am the student, the teacher or the parent!  Maybe a little of each in the role I play as my wife’s husband and caregiver…

When you add all the new tasks to the regular list of daily to-do’s it can be overwhelming at times!  But it is times like this where I have learned to cast my cares upon the Lord.  I Thessalonians 5:24 tells us that He is faithful to us and that He “also will do it.”  (KJV)  On days like today, I like to prioritize a list of everything on my plate, pray over them and then give the concern of the performance of each of the tasks to God.  The Literal Translation of the Holy Bible says that God will “perform it.”

This is something that has always worked for me.  At the end of the day, I am continually amazed at how much I got done.  It is like everything just came together, with time and energy to spare!  The key is to let God “do it!”  What does He do?  Well, the Lord told the prophet Jeremiah that “I will watch over my word to perform it.”  (Jeremiah 1:12 LITV)  The last thing that Jesus told His disciples before going to heaven was that not only would He be with them (and us as well!) until the end of the world, but that He would be “working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” (See Matthew 28:20 and Mark 16:20 KJV)  It is interesting to note that the word “them” is not in the original and was added by the translators.  When you delete that word, Jesus’ answer is even more pointed as He declared that He would be with us, working with and confirming His Word with miraculous signs that followed the preaching and acting upon His Word!

That is how He wants us to function successfully in the world today.  We are to give everything we are called and responsible to do to Him and not be anxious about it.  We are also not to try and do it all on our own power and through our own abilities.  I believe that this is the cause for discouragement and burnout.  Over the years I have known many Pastors who have become so focused on the work of the ministry that their calling has become nothing but a job to them.  They get so overtaken by the physical responsibilities of the ministry that they lose focus on their calling, their gifting’s and their passion.

I have also seen other Pastor’s get so personally involved in the negative inputs of the people that they are called to love and minister to, that they lose their vision of God’s grace and His love working in and through them and they quit over the hurt they have sustained, many times staying away from any Christian fellowship for years to come.

I can honestly say that I cannot ever recall losing my zeal and love for our ministry call over the thirty plus years we have been in the ministry.  There have been times though when I became frustrated with certain individuals and have definitely experienced many migraine headaches over the years!  So I guess I too have had to learn the hard way, to cast all my cares over to the Lord!

I am sure that God does not want us getting burned out, falling into the habit of always complaining about the job and/or experiencing migraine headaches over the stress of the callings He has placed on our lives.  He plainly tells us throughout His Word that He “will do it.”  It is up to each of us to find the ways that work for us that will allow us to release the care of the “doing” or “performing” of what He has given us to do for Him.  I can’t exactly tell you how it works, but I know that it does.  It must be one of those “miraculous signs and wonders” that Jesus said would follow us as we obey, stand on and trust in His Word!

Have a good day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”