Staying encouraged during difficult times.
Pastors and spiritual leaders are not immune to any of the challenges of this season. I have personally worked hard to remain encouraged and have experienced some highs and lows. The other day after work I was so rattled that I put myself to bed and slept from 5pm-6pm. Not a normal nap time, but I needed to separate myself from others long enough to get my attitude to improve. Later in the evening I read an incredible book by Henri Nouwen "In the Name of Jesus: reflections on Christian Leadership" and it changed my whole outlook.
Consider what you can add to your days
Instead of bugging you to eliminate unhealthy things, (you probably already know that eating the whole box of cookies in one sitting is not good for you) what are some things you can add to your days?
Here are few creative ideas of things you can add to your day that might change your perspective.
- Read a good book about good things. If you can’t afford a new book, even reading quotes from good books online for free can be very inspiring.
- Watch a video about one of your heroes. I am always inspired to live for larger things when I am thinking about the life of William Wallace, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, or Billy Graham.
- Worship your way out of a dark place. There is so much good worship music for free on YouTube, but there are also multiple Christian radio stations here in our area to tune in to. When we declare the truth about God, our hearts are strangely put at peace by rehearsing His goodness.
- Talk to someone. Use the phone, video chat, or better yet, take a lawn chair over to someone’s house, sit at the curb and visit with them face to face as they sit on their front porch. This has been a game changer for me in the past week.
- Make something more beautiful. We have painted, put new baseboards in, repaired floors, put new bark in, and my wife got a new fountain for our side yard. Making things look pretty around us really helped us feel better.
- Walk, bike, run, exercise. Our family has rediscovered biking together and it has helped immensely to get our blood flowing, get some sun on our face, and enjoy the fact that there’s less traffic around town than normal.
While these are a few practical suggestions, what we really need is an encounter with God. We need to be continually “being filled” with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. We need to get into moments, situations, and times where we worship Jesus and ask Him to come and give us what we need.
The buzz word for a few years has been “self-care.”
We need to do a better job caring for ourselves so that we will be in a better position to love others around us. Galatians 5:14 says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” One of my heroes, Mr. Rogers, talks about the importance of loving and forgiving yourself so you can love others.
Here’s my prayer for us in this season
Jesus, help us in these days to love well. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. Give us fresh grace for our family, our neighbors, coworkers and friends. Teach us to love others creatively. Inspire us through compelling stories and testimonies. Raise our faith to believe you for great things. Meet us in these days and shape our hearts to look more like you. Amen.
I invite you to join us on our 50 Days to Love series livestream Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. on our Neighborhood Church of Chico Facebook page and YouTube channel.
If you missed last week’s message in our 50 Days to Love series, click her to listen to the podcast or watch the video.
