Finding Confidence in the Lord

Since the news of the corona virus has called for county-wide shutdowns and for everyone to stay indoors, I have begun to feel the effects of 'cabin-fever'. So, I have hiked 10 miles, baked a dozen chocolate-chip cookies, cooked one pot of homemade chili, and began to study the conversion of the metric system. Yes, the need to stay active both physically and mentally during these weeks of self-quarantine has called for creativity and intentionality. Still, keeping busy to stave off boredom and to just "stay out of the refrigerator", as I combat feelings of anxiety while experiencing empty store shelves, and hearing of fake vaccines, has truly become wearisome.

How does this speak to shame and rejection? I take heart in His promise to neither leave me nor forsake me. (Heb. 13:5)

The Word says to, "Be strong and of good courage" (Josh. 1:18). So today, I take comfort in the Lord;
and although I do not know when I will return to work and the end of this pandemic is no where in sight, my peace and confidence is in Him.

May you too find rest and a space of grace today and in the days and weeks to come.

My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Ps. 73:26)

Fear versus Faith

The threat of coronavirus, shortages of supplies in the marketplace, lacking healthcare,  unemployment, our US presidential candidates battling it out, and road rage, There’s a lot in our news headlines that let us know- on a 24 hour basis - there’s much at stake.

However, panics and pandemics are not new to mankind. Jesus even spoke about trouble to come when He was here on earth. In Mark 13:7, Jesus said to his disciples,“But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.”  He went on to say, “Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be earthquakes everywhere, and there will be famines. These things are like the first pains of childbirth” (Mark‬ ‭13:8‬).

Therefore, we have a choice; with so much to be concerned about, we may choose to be in fear or walk in faith. The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, ”Fear not for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand (Isa. 54:10).

So, with this great promise and assurance, how can we fret, hoard supplies and speak of impending doom?  In these last days we need to come together as Brethren and not fear one another lest we “ catch something” or “lose something”. If God is for us then who or what can be against us?

For it is written, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Father, thank You that there is no fear in You, but peace and provision. You are Jehovah Jireh, our provider. In Jesus name, amen.

2020: The Year of Clear Vision, A Year of Hope

As the new year rolls out and we settle into our resolutions or resolve not to have resolutions, I am finding the word 'hope' just about everywhere. First, the theme of the Rose Parade was hope and the meditations on just about every prayer app are focusing on hope. Hope is that thing that gets you up in the morning. Keeps you on the job, in the relationship and committed to the goal. 

Therefore, I propose that what we all need most in the new year is hope. We require optimism and faith in order to move forward in our lives. However, being optimistic may be easier said than done. For example, the writer of Proverbs wrote, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life", (Proverbs 13:12). Therefore, having an anchor of expectation is integral to obtain forward movement, progress, and to thrive.

Sometimes we just need to talk ourselves into hope. I have found that there is no better way to do that than by reading the Word of God. Meditate on these verses of hope. 
Psalm 33:22, Psalm 39:7, Lamentations 3:24, Psalm 130:5 (Courtesy JM Ministries)

H Have
O Optimistic
P Perspectives in
E Everything 

Happy New Year!

Pastors and Dependency

Being a spiritual leader comes with a significant amount of authority and power. So it might come as a surprise that many pastors feel that they have very little authority and are powerless over many things.

Pastors who find themselves in this predicament tend to be overly dependent on others for how they feel about themselves and how they handle challenges. They give other people power over their emotions, thoughts and behaviors and depend heavily on people for approval and a sense of self-worth.

One telltale sign of over dependence is blaming others for how one feels. Dependent people will say things like “He made me angry” or “She ruined my day.” No one can make you feel anything. But that is exactly what happens with people who have a dependent personality. They let other people control their feelings. “When we “give away” to someone else the ability to make us feel a certain way, then we give away our personal power over our own lives. In doing that we also lose touch with our personal responsibility for our thoughts, feelings, and behavior” (Gary L. Harbaugh, Pastor As Person, p. 108).

For pastors, this can have a detrimental effect on them personally and professionally. Allowing others to control how we feel and think will influence how we handle the challenges of ministry. Fear of conflict, fear of change and fear of broken relationships will drive a dependent pastor to avoid or deny issues that come up. Fear – and the resentment and pain that tends to come with it – will also affect how pastors interact with church members. To overcome unhealthy dependencies, pastors must recover their authority and power over their feelings by depending on God, not people, for their sense of value and acceptance.

Alicia Grey, seminary student

Pastors and their feelings

            

             Anger, fear, anxiety and sadness are all human emotions. There tends to be an unspoken rule, however, that pastors should never express any of these feelings. These kinds of negative feelings are viewed as a sign of weakness or incompetence in a pastor.

            Where does this belief come from? Often times, it can be traced back to the way the pastor was raised. Perhaps, he or she was brought up in a home where their parents discouraged certain feelings. They grew up having to suppress their anger or fear. This dynamic can sometimes be found in seminary, too. There, the future pastors encounter a message that tells them how a pastor should or should not feel. The pastor is then left feeling guilty about harboring certain feelings or in denial that she or he has any “bad” feelings at all.

            Avoiding or denying his or her feelings has a tremendous impact on the pastor and everyone around him or her. “The pastor who denies or does not integrate into ministry his or her own feelings of hurt, or who is perceived as woundless, will also be perceived as “someone who has never been there,” says Gary L. Harbaugh, in his book Pastor as Person. He warns that pastors are in danger of losing touch with what it means to be a person when they refuse to acknowledge their feelings. 

           God created us to be holistic: physical, social, emotional and mental. Denying any of these aspects of our personhood restricts pastors from fully living and experiencing God’s healing power. It also limits the pastor’s ability to minister effectively to others. However, when pastors address their own feelings instead of hiding them, they are better able to handle a crisis, love themselves and connect and empathize with others.

By Alicia Grey, seminary student

Pastors and their Health

2/14/19

            Most people who become pastors do so because they believe that God called them to the ministry. This is key because no one should become a pastor if he or she simply sees it as a career. You will quickly become frustrated, resentful and overwhelmed, which will affect your ability to care for yourself and your congregation.

            But even people who are confident that God called them, still find themselves under the tremendous pressure of being a spiritual leader. There is so much more to being a pastor than preaching on Sunday mornings. Among many other things, they are also overseeing committee meetings and church ministries, visiting the sick and the dying, counseling individuals, doing weddings and funerals and leading social justice efforts.  

Sadly, many pastors tend to ignore, deny or downplay the toll their work has on their physical health. Gary L. Harbaugh, in his book Pastor as Person, says that pastors are quick to encourage their parishioners to take care of themselves. They will not, however, heed their own advice. “The same pastor might also preach from the pulpit that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But when it comes to himself or herself, the pastor tends to forget that he or she is an embodied person” (Harbaugh, p. 48). Stating that pastors have a body might seem obvious, but it is worth emphasizing. So often, church members - and society - put pastors on a pedestal and view them as superheroes, forgetting that they are humans with the same needs as anyone else. It is no wonder then that so many pastors have at least a 50 percent chance of seeing a change in their health (Harbaugh, p. 42).

So what can a pastor do? For starters, they must admit that they need help and then be intentional in seeking it out. Help could come in the form of a clergy support group, self-care activities and counseling. When pastors take care of themselves, everyone benefits.

By Alicia Grey, seminary student

She Wields A Sword

Journal

A Year in Retrospect

So, go ahead—let everyone know it!

   Tell the world how he broke through

   and delivered you from the power of darkness and has gathered us together from all over the world. He has set us free to be his very own!

Psalm 107:2-3 (TPT)

This year started with a bang, a bang to the head that is. I found myself having to reckon with my assumptions and what I discovered was that one cannot assume they completely understand or comprehend prophetic words or even impressions we feel we’ve received from the Lord. So when circumstances did not materialize the way I envisioned, I was disillusioned. Thus, what then shaped my year to follow was discouragement, disheartenment, and dismay. To sum it up, this year, I was depressed!

Now on hold on, don’t go yet, I write about these Four Deadly ‘D’s in a journal devoted to “wielding a sword” and empowerment, not to focus on the negative but to expose in a very vulnerable way what can go wrong when you want everything to go right, and how by the Grace of God, we once again may have a renewed vision of hope, get reestablished confidence, and obtain restored freedom.  

Our humanity cries out for deliverance and statistics reveal that more and more people in our culture are experiencing the effects of some form of trauma or mental illness. Former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health Thomas Insel wrote about the commonality of mood disorders. “Our best estimate of the number of adults with any diagnosable mental disorder within the past year is nearly 1 in 5, or roughly 43 million Americans. Therefore, what happened to me was not uncommon. Still, as a Believer I would like to think that I had enough faith or “Word in me” to side step it.

However, what I did not see coming was the shocking revelation of my own naivety that I could be all things, at all times, to everyone. And what added insult to injury, I mistakenly called this, ‘ministry’.  It is not the loss of a belief system that crushes but the doused illusion of being on point that hit below the belt.

Therefore, compounded by my own failings to set appropriate boundaries, I blamed people in authority, the Church and even the Lord, and that nearly stripped me of all of my faith. I did not know it at the time, but looking back, the real issue was my inability to rest and rest in the Lord.

Rest is the element that sustains when the going gets tough. It is the life of the Spirit within that compels us to move forward, to go up, to go on and to not give up. King David wrote,

“My soul finds rest in God alone. He alone is my rock and salvation. My hope comes from God alone. And He alone is my rock” (Psalm 62:1-2 NIV).

The Hebrew word rest conveys the idea of silence, of being quiet, of being still. It’s related to the idea of Psalm 46 “Be still and know that I am God.” It’s related to the words of Jesus: “Peace, be still.” Thus, this is what I needed - rest.

In retrospect, why was I so surprised at the painful trials I was experiencing, as if something strange was happening to me? It wasn’t strange at all but the hand of God faithfully working all things out for my good and bringing me back, full circle. Christ was giving me and still is, beauty for ashes. He’s restored my Spirit-filled hope, renewed my God-inspired confidence, and reignited my Christ-bought and won freedom.  Hallelujah!

Merry Christmas Beloved, and have a very happy, restful and hope-filled New Year!

Elizabeth-Marie ‘Allison’ on December 24, 2018

She Wields A Sword

Sierra Madre, CA, 91024