When you have to work to remember the password to your own blog... you know it's been a while since you've written. I could say that the holidays were busy (which they were) or come up with some other excuse, but the truth is I've been trying to pour more time into listening and less time into talking.
As a pastor, you have to talk a lot. Public speaking is a requirement and teaching multiple times a week is common. I don't mind it to tell you the truth. I think it keeps me sharp on some level... always having to prepare for something else. The amount of preparation never changes much for me. Study is extremely important and has to be done. My struggle is usually not the amount of time that I'm in the Word... it's more like a struggle of "who am I in the Word for?" I've told my congregation on several occasions that I simply preach/teach what the Lord is teaching me... and that is completely true. But there are times that I long for something just between me and Him.
So...I've recently picked back up where I left off in my Bible reading plan from last year. The plan was to read the entire Bible cover to cover in 90 days. It's a great way to get the big picture, and I enjoyed it for a time. But along the way, I also missed the more intimate time with the Lord that I used to enjoy. Journaling and talking about His Word and how it was speaking to my heart.
I've been in the book of Jeremiah and have been working through it at a little better than a snails pace for a few weeks now. I'm looking forward to finishing what I started last year... a 90 day plan that will probably end up taking me the better part of 2 years... oh well!
I've started journaling again and some of it may even make it here. We'll see. For now, I'll leave you with my prayer from Jeremiah 23:4. "I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing." - Lord, help me be that kind of shepherd. Help us move beyond the hurt and fear of the past and press on and run with perseverance the race you've marked out for us in this city. -
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