Make a list...check it twice

Yeah I know. There’s that drama thing slowly draining your spirit as it plays out in front of you.  There’s that elder (or those elders) that you are convinced really want you gone. There’s that member actively spreading gossip and ill will about your ministry. There’s that supposedly spiritual woman running your family down. There are those bills that you struggle to pay. There’s a list of visits and calls and deadlines that seems to pile up and never be tamed.  You never thought it would be like this - you never knew there would be this much pressure - this level of frustration or this amount of disappointment - but it is here and it is real and it can become pervasive in your life.  

May I challenge you for a moment?  Right now - grab a pencil, pen, crayon or your nearest writing device. Now, pray. Ask God for insight into the good, for a moment of peace. Quickly now, before the demons of discouragement can creep back in - make a list of five good things. One good thing in your family, one good thing about your work, one name of a person or family in your church that brings you joy, one good thing that has happened this year, and one good thing you are looking forward to.  Now, take your list, carry it with you this week. Consult it often - thank God for the good - and smile.  Because the pressures are great - but God is greater and satan would rather anything happen than for us to be encouraged - but God is clear - be encouraged because “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).