Tag: Suffering

Who Pastors the Pastor?

Who Pastors the Pastor?

While serving as the pastor of a rural Texas church, this author stood over the bedside while my fourteen-year-old daughter took her last breaths. With a broken heart and my wife by my side, I had confidence and faith in the power of God to carry me through this dark valley. I had stood by many men and women as their pastor in similar, painful circumstances. A hospital chaplain, whom I had never met, stood behind us. He provided his presence and a reading from Scripture that I requested.

Pastoring with a Broken Heart

I was hurting and had a great task before me that would begin with delivering this news to my other three daughters. I was the pastor, but now I needed a pastor. Who could provide that comfort and care to the one who was accustomed to caring for his flock? As a part of the body of Christ, every pastor in his humanity will one day find himself in need of pastoral care.  

Paul Found Comfort in Friends

Neither Paul nor the men who served with him were without fault. Paul’s associates sometimes failed him. Apparently, Paul fell short as his temper was on display in his relationship with Peter, Barnabas, and Mark. This serves as a reminder as well that these were imperfect men. Facing great odds, they were empowered by the Spirit of God to accomplish a great task. In these details of their relationships, we find men who needed each other. They were buoyed by companionship as they suffered together, encouraged each other, and stepped up to provide aid to each other for personal and ministry reasons. 

A Community of Encouragement

This author has found similar strength to remain faithful to the calling of God from other pastors. When faced with the intense grief of losing a daughter after a long illness, I was encouraged and lifted up by the companionship of other ministers. The congregation rendered similar encouragement and aid. The denomination stepped in to help share some of the financial burden. The most important source of strength came from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.  

Fellow Pastors Lift the Burden

A crucial part of my healing and ability to stand tall as a father and pastor was rooted in the companionship, encouragement, and aid of fellow ministers. These relationships were forged in ministry years before my daughter’s passing. The encouragement sometimes took the form of direct admonitions to do the tough things required in tough times. There is a special bond that is rooted in the shared connection as ministers of the Gospel.

This one personal incident serves only to illustrate a greater need. The heavy burden may come from the daily responsibilities of ministry, a difficult church environment, external threats, or the weight of lost souls. That burden is always more bearable when the pastor has faithful fellow servants of the Gospel with whom he can share the load.  

This blog includes the intro and conclusion to my pastoral ministry research project. The middle 25 pages is “academic” writing 🙂 that explored Paul’s ministry relationships found in Colossians 4:7-17. The pastor’s ultimate pastor is the Good Shepherd. A case can also be made for the congregation and deacon body to share the responsiblilty to care for a hurting pastor.

The God of Creation is the God of Our Circumstances

The God of Creation is the God of Our Circumstances

Katie was just over 6 months old when she faced one of the most difficult times of her life. She was having kidney failure and was brought into Dallas Children’s Medical Center for a catheter placement so we could begin peritoneal dialysis. She was very tiny so as the catheter was place in her abdomen it nicked her bowl and she became septic. She quickly became very ill. The medical team recommended that we seriously consider letting her go, because of the many severe medical problems she faced. We were forced to make a difficult decision to discontinue treatment or to take drastic measures to save her life.

Sensing the Lord leading, we felt it wasn’t time to let her go just yet. The doctors intubated her and she was place in the Pediatric ICU. She recovered miraculously and only spent a couple days in ICU. However, the positive news only lasted a few days. She was in a hospital room having regular treatments on her lungs waiting for them to become strong enough for another surgery.

I still remember that afternoon as though it was only a few years ago. The respiratory therapist had just left the room after giving her a CPT treatment and suctioning her lungs. Hearing Katie give a faint cry, I went to her bedside to see her turning blue with her eyes rolling. We yelled down the hall for the nurses and things began to happen very quickly. Our baby was again facing death.

We were ushered out of the room as emergency teams rushed to re-intubate her trying to save her life. As Susan and I sought to comfort one another, I went to the phone to contact my friend Dr. Frankie Rainey who I relied on as my pastor. Dr. Rainey was already out of his office, but Dr. Art Allen took my call. After listening to my story, Dr. Allen promised to relay our prayer request to Dr. Rainey and take it before his church that evening.

Then Dr. Allen asked me a question that has stuck with me for more than 27 years. He simply asked, “How are y’all doing?” I immediately began to reiterate Katie’s dire circumstances, but Dr. Allen stopped me. He said, “You’ve told me about Katie. How are you and Susan?” I paused for a moment, because my focus had been entirely on Katie. As I took inventory of my own condition, I felt a peace come over me. I replied, “Dr. Allen, we are okay. The same God who was in charge last week when we Katie was miraculously healed is in charge today. He’ll take care of us. We are okay. Thanks for asking.”

I learned many valuable lessons the two long months Katie was in the hospital that stay. But none of those lessons had a greater impact than the one I learned that day. The God of creation is the God of our circumstances. He never changes. He is faithful, trustworthy, and true. The God who created the sea is still God when the storms rage and the seas of life get rough.

As they were sailing He fell asleep. Then a fierce windstorm came down on the lake; they were being swamped and were in danger. They came and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to die!” Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. So they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” 

They were fearful and amazed, asking one another, “Who can this be? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey Him!” 

-Luke 8:23-25 CSB