“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:1-3 NASB)
Yesterday afternoon, I let the enemy have me focusing on the negative, as opposed to the positive. Yes, he was messing with my mind, trying to put pity in the place of praise to God. The deceiver will do that because it will derail our thoughts in the wrong direction. Be aware of his techniques.
This is what I did sitting on a couch in the living room. I listed all the individuals who came to the church I pastor, announced their call to the ministry. I added to the list those who claimed to be sent and had a track record in the ministry. I still have the list on my phone this morning. I shared it with Mrs. King last night, breaking it down from a statistical approach. I was going right where Satan would have me go in an effort to bring me down. The statistics are as follows: Eighteen individuals entered or continued in their calling to the gospel ministry at the church initially. For various reasons some resigned. Some just “ghosted” me. Some reassessed their “calling,” realized it would be a while before the pulpit would be vacant. By the way, I’m just hitting my 31st Pastoral Anniversary, so the vacancy has not occurred yet. Some of these professed preachers left and returned to the world. Those individuals may be doing good things to help people, but they were called to preach the word in season and out of season. Some left due to relationships that could not be reconciled. Some left because of church polity and practices. Some rejected the idea that training, and development was part of the process. Some relocated because of job reasons. That I understand, and I hope they are staying with their announced calling. Here is a better summary of the statistics: 18 ministers were on the role, many never returned after the first sermon opportunity. Out of the 18, I have one (1) who is still with me, and I really see the Lord’s hand on his life. But Satan had me think of the numbers, the statistics, especially the fact that the faithful 1 I have, he represents a 5.9% retention rate. In my old Human Resources day, that type of retention number was appalling and not acceptable by any means. I woke up during the night focusing on how did I fail? What did I do wrong? Satan had me for a minute. But when I rose this morning, (Somebody ought to say, “Come on now!”); when I rose this morning, I shifted my view to the positive things. The church is still standing! Believers willing to subject themselves to the preaching and teaching of the word are still growing. The ministry has expanded globally, reaching people in different places of the world with these daily meditations. God has blessed the church with faithful leaders! The one minister I have is equipped with leadership skills, benefitting from formal training, studying Bible formally, and he has relished our mentor/mentee relationship. Ministries have continued through the pandemic. The work that is done behind the scenes is great and allows me to devote time to the ministry of the word. Stewardship is obvious, even during the time of a world-wide crisis. As you can see, I shifted my pity party to a praise party.
I changed my way of thinking this morning, focusing on praising God for all He has done. Praise God! Look at all the “all” words in the few verses above and you will find yourself in awe. This morning I went from feeling awful to standing in awe of the “all;” all that the Lord has done over the years. I am lifted up now! I feel so much better now! I appreciate all His benefits! I applaud God for His mercies! I align my thoughts to see what God is doing and not what I wish I could have done. God is not finished with me yet and He is not finished with you yet either! Forget the past and press on toward higher ground! Think about how God has moved in your life and poured out a bountiful amount of mercy on you! Isn’t God good! Don’t let the enemy get you down. Be in awe of the “all” and praise God this morning! Hallelujah! Awe the “all!” Hope this was timely and truly encouraging! Have a great Tuesday! Be blessed!
“All of you thousands who serve and obey God, come and praise your Lord! All of God’s creation and all that he rules, come, and praise your Lord! With all my heart I praise the Lord!” (Psalm 103: 21-22a Contemporary English Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King