Shift happens.
Pastors, like all folks, suffer occasional desert dry spells, when God’s presence feels non-existent.
Most often these dry spells occur when a pastor feels overwhelmed by the world, like: the transmission of an SUV with over 250,000 miles suffers near extinction: $3,500. The gasket head of the newer car blows: $2,000. The youngest child decides to attend college: $9,000. The church needs a new parking lot: $140,000 plus. Church gutters appear too small to handle rain and snow run-off, ruining the stucco walls: $?. A tooth goes bad, causing incredible pain: $400. And the old, loving dog needs medication for her arthritic hips: $20 per month. Another child gets married: $2,000. Another child’s family moves, needing help (“Can you run a hand cart to help us move our washer and dryer?”). And on and on and on.
At times like these, a pastor begins wondering if God still exists.
Moreover, parishioners suffering from the same dry spell, overwhelmed with life themselves, seek counsel and advice from the suffering pastor. Per training, the pastor offers the best counsel possible, which is what?
The best counsel a dried-up pastor can give a suffering parishioner comes directly from the pastor’s own experience.
The authentic pastor states, “Wow. I really know how you feel. I feel the same way. Sometimes life overwhelms me, too.” But then the pastor offers a bit more advice than anyone else can offer, saying, “Unlike the world, which makes constant demands on us, God stands ready to relieve our burdens. Even when God feels so far away, stop trusting your feeling and start trusting God’s past behavior of help and assistance. Past behavior predicts current behavior; and God’s past behavior always provides guidance, giving us strength to keep going. Trust in what God did in the past, and lean on that legacy as much as you need today.”
In dry spells we all hope that shift happens – that a shift in our circumstances begins.
Recently, I received my annual lab results that measured how my body copes with aging. While my kidneys and pancreas appear happy, my liver works overtime as my cholesterol seeks to achieve new and unhealthy heights. What does this mean? It means that I, personally, can make shift happen in my body’s performance. No need for God to create a miracle. I can begin exercising more and make better choices with food intake. Cutting out burgers and fries and replacing them with veggies and fruit will do the trick. (Darn) But then there are times when we need God.
Too much overwhelms us. We feel attacked on all sides. We wake up each day dreading it. No end of our troubles seems in sight.
What to do?
God makes shift happen. Of all beings throughout history, God made more shift happen than anyone on earth. God even plans now for a new heaven, a new earth, and new Garden of Eden to arrive at some point in history, when all who stayed faithful to God, who made shift happen, will find joy and rest. The overwhelming world will fall away; and, we will recover.
Even a pastor suffering dry spells knows that shift happens. We pastors not only know that shift happens, but we depend on it. We know that over time God never allows the world to stay the same. Some things we can change. Some things we cannot change, but God can and will shift the course of our lives, making our life happier – making our lives so that when we wake up in the morning, we once again can look forward to our day.
So…
Shift happens.
Some shift we make happen. If you can, start shifting today. Some shift God makes happen. Start letting God into your life, especially during those dry spells. Christ promised that God will make shift happen.
Start shifting.
Tom Towns is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Cortez.