The Wait

WAIT!!!!! That is such a short word. Even though it is only four letters it has a powerful meaning. From the beginning of life we have had to wait. I remember when we waited for our first child to be born. First, she was a month late in getting here so we waited. Then, there was the thirty hours of labor so we waited.

As time goes on we wait for school to start, for Christmas to come, for sixteen so we can get our driver’s license, for graduation and the big job. Life is full of waits. In the end the wait is worth it. We enjoy rewards for our wait. I can remember the feeling I had when I held our children in my arms for the first time. Christmas was always worth the wait as we opened the presents and enjoyed the events of that wonderful day. Our granddaughter posted on facebook tonight that she got her driver’s license today and drove to the store by herself. She was excited. The wait was worth it.

For the past two weeks I have been waiting. Two weeks ago Sunday something happened in my back and I was unable to walk because of the pain. After a trip to the ER the doctor told me that I had to be down for four weeks. I have not been able to preach on Sunday or go to the office. All I can do is wait in my recliner until my back heals. I must admit the wait is awful because I do not wait very well. My problem is that I have forgotten that the wait will be worth it. My back will heal and I will be able to be back to normal.

I have found that church members have as much trouble waiting as I do. We see this often when churches are in their pastor search. I can remember questions like, “Are we close to getting a pastor” even before I got settled in as Intentional Interim. We have to be careful that we do not forget that the wait is worth it. When we have issues that need to be dealt with the only way to deal with them is in time. That means we may have a longer wait than normal. When we wait we must keep the big picture in mind. Just like the birth of a baby or the excitement of Christmas or the driver’s license, the wait was worth it. The wait for churches is worth it if they just stay the course and let time help heal the wounds.

At http://www.ministrytogether.com we try to address the issues that cause wounds in churches. The matching system helps to match churches with pastors with like beliefs and skills so they will not cause some of the wounds that exist in many churches. Too many of my peers have found that they were not really a good match for the church they are pastoring. They answered all the questions and the churches stated what they were looking for in a pastor but in the long run it just wasn’t a match. By using the matching system we can get to the heart of what causes the issues in the first place.

I am reminded of the Scripture in Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah tells us very plainly that the wait is worth it.....Preacherman