A pastor friend in Oklahoma shared in a Facebook group today that he had visited with a friend who was facing discouragement. He himself had faced discouragement. I responded with a comment that I, too, had faced discouragement.
What did all of this discouragement center around? Ministerial life (and everything else) in 2020. Discouragement can be overwhelming. Perhaps your attendance is down. Perhaps your giving is down. Perhaps your baptisms are down. Perhaps your everything is down. This has been a ridiculous year for the unprecedented. And if pastoral ministry is tough in the best of times, it can be extremely difficult in the worst of times.
My wife and I cried together this past weekend because honestly, we were just tired. We felt overwhelmed. But God has blessed us with great people in our lives. We went to our Sunday School class (small group for you youngsters) and we shared our hearts. We cried again. Some of our small group cried with us. All of our hearts were seeking God for how to move forward.
On top of all of this, our printer at the church was not working and we were having internet issues in a portion of our church building. That may seem like something small compared to everything else that has happened, but in reality, it was just ANOTHER thing on top of everything else that has happened. Another problem that needed to be fixed.
So you know what I did? I set my mind on this “something small”. The first task was getting our printer working. I spent a lot of hours over several days trying to make this happen. It just so happened that I had time tonight because my wife and children were out of town. So in the evening, I came to the church and I went to work. In a couple of extra hours, that Lanier MP C2003 was producing! Working like a champ. It was something small, but it felt good.
With more evening left, I began to tackle our internet. Like many of you, our church building was designed and built BEFORE networks and the internet and ethernet cables were even a thought. So our cables had been run much later. Earlier this spring, we did a major remodel of our sanctuary. During that time, apparently someone had cut the ethernet cable going to the north portion of our building. So here is a picture of what I started with:
Two cut lines and a disconnected port.
I have never done this type of work but I knew what needed to be done. So I set out to accomplish it, little by little.
One line connected, one to go.
Two lines now connected.
Working internet in the north section of our building, woohoo!
This was something small. In most cases, our church would have called in technicians for this type of work. But I knew how to do what needed to be done. And I had the time. And I had the want to.
This was something small. But it was something our church needed. We needed our printer/copier to be working correctly. Our Sunday School clerk’s office is on the north end of our building and she needed internet to perform her role.
This was something small. But I was able to save our church money. I’m assuming between the two jobs, I was able to save AT LEAST two $100 service calls. Possibly more.
This was something small, but I found satisfaction in being able to accomplish a goal that benefited our people. Most in the church won’t know it was not working properly. Most in the church won’t know I am the one who fixed it. Most in the church will simply be able to use the benefits of it.
This was something small, but in 2020, I needed to accomplish something, even if it was small. So here is my exhortation to you: Find Something Small. There is an old saying that I think in most cases is very wise: Begin with the end in mind. However, we do not know what the end of the changes 2020 has brought us will look like. We do not know when these changes will end. We do not even know IF it will end. In times like these it is hard to begin with the end in mind.
So, begin with what you can begin with. Find something small. I do not know what your something small is but I challenge you to create personal momentum by finding it AND doing it.
Speak These Things- Titus 2:15 