I grew up in church. my dad has worked in the church although it never was in the role of 'head pastor' and so I never knew some of the differences that brings, especially on preaching day.
When I met my husband {then boyfriend} and I got to know his family I began to learn about that 'head pastor role.' In high school i can vividly remember the times we would go to his house for lunch on fridays his dad was always studying in his home office. if you know his dad, he was always up for a joke and a hug but i remember seeing even then the pressure in his spirit as he worked and prepared and studied to share his sermon that weekend.
Fast forward many years to this one, 2014. In the last couple of months Luke has gotten the opportunity to preach at a campus of our church and I've learned quickly.. once i hear the date i must start praying {like STAT}. It's a big responsibility to 'feed the sheep' and to be accountable for every word preached.
With any job comes pressure, comes unexpected moments or circumstances, come {you name it} but being a pastor that is preaching the Word of God there is a pressure that's hard to compare. In Ephesians, Paul speaks of the battle we fight, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
Last weekend I was ever so aware of this 'wrestling match' prior to his preaching, i'll set the stage for you {so to speak}.
We woke up early Saturday morning to the sound of our one year old, when he's ready to get up, well the house knows it. We drug ourselves out of bed as we were tired from the night before, Luke had hosted the 20's ministry gathering & we had eaten at 10:30 at night..so our stomachs were in rare form. Within minutes the whole house was bustling with noise and sippy cups full of milk and saturday morning cartoons. I had asked Luke earlier in the week if we could drop over to a relative's house to grab a piece of furniture I could paint and I thought it would fit in the van so it seemed like a simple ask. Once the littlest man woke up from his nap we headed out and we had promised donuts, post successful furniture pick up. I was feeling pretty good once I had carried that bad-boy {dresser} up basement stairs and to the van & was feeling even better when it was in the van.
deep breath.
until i ran up to lock the door and turned around to the sound of smashing shattered little bits of glass... yep, when the mister shut the van door ... the rest was history. back window shattered. oh yea, did i mention or other vehicle was in the 'shop' because a few weeks prior his car was sitting at the church on saturday before service and someone slammed into it {during a snow storm} and drove away. so, we now have one car with a shattered back window all three kids in the car, not to mention the three children who are ticked that the trip didn't land them donuts.
yes, i understand that the mister shouldn't have slammed the door, but this event didn't happen on a monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday or friday, nope it happened on a saturday just hours before he had to get up and preach. ask any pastor, ask him what his weekends are like.
be it
illness,
sin coming out in the church,
fight with their spouse,
children acting out,
car problems,
...
i say all this to say... satan knows your pastor is getting up to preach the Word of God, the good news of Jesus Christ. as the pastor's family, can we get over these temporary problems? of course. Can our cars be fixed? of course.
your pastor needs to be prayed for. and you need to be one of the people praying.
pray for him and his preparation.
pray for his family.
pray for protection for him.
pray for peace.
pray as you are led... but pray.
Post shattered window, I texted a bunch of prayer warriors. They prayed and God preached through Luke and as we know but was ever so clear last weekend... it was ALL the Lord.
Prayerful {even more} for my pastor,
kg
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