Inspirational Article From Joanne Lowe Index of Writings by Joanne Lowe on Gospel Web

OUR PASTORS

“They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.”

Isaiah 41: 6, 7 King James Version

Since God called me to the mission field and gave me the ministry of composing inspirational writings and encouraging pastors on January 24, 2005, I have received a lot of emails from hurting people. The saddest thing to me is that a lot of them were from pastors. Two of the most heartbreaking emails that I have ever received are from pastors.

One pastor told me “I stand at the door and greet my congregation when they leave and I so want to give them a hug but I am afraid of rejection”. The other pastor said “I have been a pastor for twenty five years and nobody has ever hugged me and so I have started hugging them because I need to be hugged”.

May God forgive us for not hugging and encouraging our pastors! One day we will stand before a Holy God and give an account of the way we have neglected our pastors and their families. The Bible tells us that “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). If Jesus, the greatest Pastor of all hurt and cried, we should realize that our pastors hurt and cry also.

I’m sure that our pastors are heartbroken because of rejection, ridicule, sarcasm and criticism. Instead of encouraging them, all too often we discourage them by our words and actions. When our pastors go to the hospital or visit somebody at home who is dying, they hurt with the person and with the person’s families. They are there for us and are on call twenty four hours a day. I wonder how we would react if our pastor would call us in the middle of the night and ask us to go pick someone up from the airport or go visit someone who is lonely, desperate and suicidal. Would we willingly and eagerly get dressed and thank God for the privilege of serving Him, or would we grumble and complain because our pastor had woke us up?

O that we would become encouragers to one another! Not only do we hurt each other by not being an encourager, we break the heart of our precious Saviour. Let’s become encouragers to our pastors and families. We need to remember them in our prayers every day. We should invite them over to eat. They may not be able to come because of having so many commitments but by inviting them over it will say to them “Pastor, I appreciate you and I love you. Thank you for all you do for me and my family. Thank you for being faithful in your service to Jesus”.

Have you prayed for your pastor every day this week? Have you placed your pastor on the pillow of love, Jesus? Have you hugged your pastor and said “I appreciate you. Thank you for all you do for me”? Most important of all, have you hugged Jesus with your words and actions? Have you told Jesus how much you love and appreciate Him? Do your actions prove to Jesus that you love Him?

Joanne Lowe

April 14, 2007

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