Still

Life in full-time ministry is hard.

There is nothing huge or traumatic or especially daunting going on right now.  Today it's just the constant, relentless pelt of minute, everyday issues that's got me wound tight and weary.  Like the rains that hit a mountain again and again, slowly eroding it over time.

On good days I can see this as the refinement it is.  A necessary smoothing down of the rough places in my life and in my heart.  On bad days I'm tempted to doubt everything I know to be true and toss in the towel.

Today is somewhere in the middle; a sigh and a roll of the eyes and, "Still?"  As in,

• I'm still dealing with this?  
• This is still going on? 
• People still find this an issue?  
• People still don't want to move on and move forward?

Seeking God's peace I run to His word.  I am not disappointed.  Exodus 14:14 swirls in my heart as I read it. Again, still. I'm still reading it- for a whole year.

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

And there it is.  The peace my heart seeks.  Not, however, in the way I normally find it in this verse.  Not in the LORD fighting for me, not this time.  This time it's in the word still. 

Life in full-time ministry is hard.

But even so, I can be still:

• I can still trust God
• I can still pray
• I can still love others
• I can still show mercy
• I can still serve my God with joy

And as this truth sinks in, today eases into a good day.