Serving in full-time ministry does not exclude you from this situation. In fact, there are oftentimes more instances of having to be patient then in other areas of life. Serving God, whether it's full-time, part-time, or volunteer is never easy. The fact is that God calls all of us to serve and love one another. But more times than not we give up because of that thing I was talking about in the first paragraph...being patient with God.
Recently I started meeting with a group of local Pastors. We get together on Wednesday afternoons to praying, share the Word with each other, encourage one another, and duke it out together when it comes to matters of all things spiritual. One of the guys in the group was sharing with me about a time he was on a safari in South Africa. It was 4 a.m. and they were walking through the jungle when the guide told them to stop. The guide said to them, "Look down and tell me what you see." He looked down and saw animal tracks and...a pile of poop. The guide then proceed to tell them to look up and look around at all the new growth around them. He then said, "See all of this new growth. It came from that pile of poop."
Pslam 37:7 says, "7Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."
Moral of the story...sometimes we gotta live with the piles of poop in our lives, be patient with God, and allow that poop and of course God to develop new growth in us. So the next time you see a pile of poop in your life or step in it, don't get mad. Sometimes we gotta have the poop to help us be who God wants us to be.
Chris
P.S.: The original post title was "Oh Crap!", but I toned it down a bit for everyone. Just thought you should know.
