Take a second to consider the work of a minister if you find yourself exhausted. The highest and best moments of people’s lives and the lowest and worst moments are what a pastor deals with almost daily.

Weddings, baby dedications, baptisms, salvation experiences are what keep pastors in the game. Beautiful, glorious moments. Those Jesus moments where the body is fully functioning: giving, praying, and the Spirit is moving. It’s a piece of heaven here on this broken earth. It’s enough to make you cry big, embarrassing tears of joy.

There is the other side. Sickness and Death. Broken bodies and broken relationships. Addiction, pain, and loss. Tragedies that don’t make any sense, and there are no words that can even be prayed. You have to just start with the groan of your spirit as you seek His. Yet, these moments are a divine privilege. Sacred in themselves.

Nobody calls the pastor on the mundane days. So if you feel a little tired, and your spouse is a bit whooped, it may be for good reason.

“But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, NLT).

Being on this side of the church is weird. It’s strange to know that 99.9% of the difficulties that a pastor faces, the obstacles that take up so much of the time have so little to do with spiritual health and well-being of the church.

song selection, money, personal preference, opinions, opinions, carpet color, paint color, the wrong colors, the right colors, the pastor’s clothes aren’t right, the pastor’s wife’s clothes are great, but the kids…

Just give me Jesus. I want people to know Jesus the way I know Him. I want to know Jesus more. I want people to teach me how they know Jesus. I want to pray for people who need Jesus; I want to see miracles. I want to learn. I want to teach. I want the church to be the church. I want Jesus to be proud of us, his children.

I want it to be simple. I want people to practice forgiveness when they’re offended and seek forgiveness when they mess up.  I want to see people who are desperately in need of salvation find it through our precious Jesus.  Let church be simple.