The last three weeks has been a ministry whirlwind. Perhaps pure craziness would be a more appropriate description. I have been carrying some extra duties because of staff who are gone teaching in Africa, one who had her first grandchild, and several who are exhausted after a tremendous ministry push in June and July. We've had four deaths in the church over the last two weeks, two construction projects going on, as well as some key leadership decisions that were very difficult to make.
In addition to my job related stuff, Ally, our youngest, had her tonsils and adenoids removed last week, our air conditioning went out on the hottest weekend in history (112 degrees as the high), a palm tree by our pool decided to bloom for the second time this year...a real mess...and today I came home and discovered that the pool sweep was broken.
As I was watering the plants this evening and feeling sorry for myself, I had this thought..."Tim, your problems are less about your problems and more about how you are RESPONDING to your problems. You teach that your problems are opportunities for growth. When will you practice what you preach?" Ouch! Don't you just love it when the Holy Spirit rebukes and corrects you?
Anyway, I'm reminded today that although I may not be able to control my circumstances I certainly can control the way I respond. As my friend, John Maxwell, says; "It's not what happens TO you that matters. It's what happens IN you that counts."
Tim, this was right on. It's good to be convicted by the Holy Spirit. While we were at conference in June, we were setting up chairs on Saturday getting ready for the evening session, and one of the guys that was helping me was talking to his daughter and asking why she had marker all over her face. She kept trying to give him excuses and then he said this, "were you not in control of your face all evening?" While he kept on talking to her, those words rang in my head and reminded me that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can chose how we respond. Ultimately we are responsible for that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder that I am in charge of my own face. :-)