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Inspirational Article
From
Joanne Lowe
Index of Writings by Joanne Lowe on Gospel Web
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Inspirational Article
From
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There are so many people who are hurting and in a lot of emotional pain in the world today. I have received over twenty emails in the last month from people who are hurting and feel all alone. I think some of the people who hurt the most are the people that we sit next to in church. Joyce Landorf, a well known speaker and author, said on one of her teaching tapes about the people we sit next to in church “They look fine and they look darling but inside they are dying”.
On another one of her tapes, Joyce tells about being at an airport with a friend. Her friend said while she was pointing to herself “Pastors and their wives need encouragement”. We somehow have gotten the mistaken impression that just because someone has surrendered to preach that he no longer feels the same pain that we feel. Pastors probably hurt more than any of us because they are criticized and judged a lot.
There was an article in my local newspaper a couple of days ago that broke my heart. It told about two pastors fighting in church. Yesterday, when I was getting my hair cut, I overheard a conversation that really upset me. The people were discussing the incident with the pastors and one of the women made this remark “That pastor should have been kicked out of that church and never allowed back in the church again”.
In the first place, the Bible has made it very clear that we are not to criticize our pastors. We definitely should not be gossiping about them. If we spent as much time praying for our pastors as we do criticizing them and trying to tell them what to do, that fight probably would not have happened. Yes, they should not have been fighting in church but we don’t have any right to point the finger at them. None of us are perfect. All of us are sinners saved by grace and we would do well to remember that we also fail Jesus. Had it been you and I fighting, it would never have been put in the newspaper.
One day all of us will stand before a Holy God and give an account of the way we treated our pastors. I think a lot of people will have to hang their heads in shame because of the things they said about their pastors. I personally know some parents who go to church with their children and then when they go home and are eating dinner, they criticize everything the pastor said. Then they wonder why their children don’t want to go to church. May God forgive us for criticizing our pastors instead of praying for them.
Oh dear people, Jesus feels your pain. He knows how it feels to be criticized, judged and ridiculed. When you hurt, He hurts with you. He longs to comfort and encourage you. If you are hurting today, run into the open arms of Jesus. He will be faithful to kiss your tears of discouragement, loneliness and heartache away. He will once again restore His joy, peace and happiness to your heart. Allow Jesus to comfort you and encourage you with His compassionate understanding and His unconditional love.