Appointed to His Service

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to His service." 1Timothy 1:12

From time to time I face situations in my life that seriously cause me to reconsider just what the heck I am doing with my life. It is not every day that I wake up and am jumping for joy that I get to be the Pastor. There are times that I begin to doubt or at least question just how good or successful of a salesman, actor or writer I could have become. These fanciful thoughts pass relatively quickly and don't plague me for days or anything like that, thankfully. But they do come and go and I must turn them over to Him every time.

When it happens, this verse is a wonderful encouragement to me. I can only be Pastor because of His strength, His consideration and His appointment because it is a commitment of service to Him. The key word in this verse for me is “thank”. Ahhh yes, being thankful. You see, amidst the trouble, tragedy, trials and tribulations of ministry are also the blessings, benefits, beauty and bounty of His work. I would never trade the thrill of seeing gains that glorify Him because of the losses that break my heart. This is true not just for me but for all of us.

The principle of thankfulness is the recipe for dealing with anything that can happen in our lives. At all times we must be able to count our blessings in order to put into perspective the difficulties of life. If I don't do this I can fall prey to negativity or worse yet bitterness. We are all capable of getting ourselves in a frame of mind that can bring on a sense of isolation and ungratefulness.

As I write this devotional, I am sitting in the church parking lot as the Saturday Food Ministry wraps up their distribution and cleanup process. In case you do not know, every Monday, Thursday and Saturday we host a food coop outreach that helps probably hundreds of families in our neighborhood. It is an amazing opportunity for anyone to receive food that has a need. As I have been watching and writing I have noted the thankfulness of so many of the folks who are in line. Many of these sweet people have so little and yet are so thankful. Positive, in very difficult circumstances.

Now, back to the Pastor and to you. By now, like me you are probably putting yourself into perspective, as well you should, after all 'there but by the grace of God'. So I have begun to be thankful for my calling that He appointed me to for His purposes and glory. I am remembering that He is my strength and that because He considered me faithful (can I please pause here for a time of total humbleness?) I will continue to serve Him.

I know many of you are facing troubling and tempting tumultuous times. You are obviously not alone. But, be thankful, it will help you to change your perspective, attitude and mood. What a tremendous honor and blessing to have been appointed. I will make it a point to remember. Each of you has also been called to be a disciple of His and that is equally important and just as wonderful and challenging. Let us endeavor together to do the Kingdom work that the Lord has for us to do, until we are done or He is.

In His Service with you,
Pastor Fred

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