Feel the Pain

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
(Hebrews 5:8 – ESV)

Are you in touch with the reality of this text? Christ had no sin, yet He learned by suffering. The next verse says that through this learning He was made complete, it perfected Him in the mission the Father gave Him. In our daily lives, we either learn to be obedient through suffering or we have to suffer more. Even if and when we learn, we still might suffer but we will still be obedient, as the clarity of our vision of God has changed.

People are challenged by life as to whether they will trust God through trials or not. Often their grief leads to gloom. As pastors, we may not have to deal with some of the things on the level of some of our people, but we will have to deal with them at some level. All of them. All the time. Grief upon grief, and it can be overwhelming if a man doesn’t lean on God. Pastors have to deal with grief challenging their notions of “do they believe in God despite suffering” every day. As the Great Shepherd feels the pain of His sheep (Hebrews 4:15), so too are His under-shepherds made to feel the pain of the people they must keep watch for.

Now some pastors are avoiding burnout, but they are doing that by avoiding their biblical role. They say that they “don’t do counseling”. Well they may not be expert in all areas, and they can use all the tools at their disposal, including other ministers and godly agencies. However, in any event they should be keeping in touch with their folks to know what their problems and concerns are and be praying for them. Not just corporate prayer, but prayer for specific individuals. If they never even talk to their “problem people” they are in effect letting the wolves go after the sheep without a care. Such a man is a hireling, for sure.

Some other pastors insulate themselves from grief by teaching falsehood. They are fond of putting it all back on the pew and avoiding the pressure. They tell folks they only suffer because they “lack faith”. Now some believers might be weak in the faith and as unstable as water, but many times this isn’t the case, and the pastor is just trying to avoid the reality that his “faith message” is a farce. My contention is that those pastors lack grace, saving grace.

Still other pastors have churches that grow so large they become isolated from their congregation on that score. If all their time is study, books, media, meetings, etc., then they have sailed away into the success of their dreams, but they have failed to listen to the voice of God telling them to tend to the flock, personally. If you have a large church, have more pastors. Can any man successfully tend to more than 100 by himself? I am not talking about generic prayer for generic people; I am talking about specific prayer for specific people. I am talking about knowing their problems and feeling their pain, praying personally with them at times and being there for them at all times. Every pastor must be personally tending to at least some or he isn’t what he thinks he is. No shepherd is above tending sheep.

It is all about suffering; we are modeling Jesus to the world. It is not that He suffered so we might not in this life, but that we might have an example in this life and live in the next where we don’t suffer. We are modeling for eternity the power to overcome what everyone has to deal with. Our profession is that yes we believe in spite of and indeed in a sense because of the suffering. We identify with Jesus Christ the suffering servant.

Pastors if you don’t learn to draw near in these times you will find yourself blowing off steam in ungodly ways. It may not start out that way but you must learn that it doesn’t just automatically go away. You must pursue this idea of drawing near when the pressure is on, not simply grit your teeth and endure it, but come to Christ and share it. Don’t hold it in alone. It may not seem like a big deal but it truly is. This is the thing that ensnares you and makes you go to other sources for comfort when it should be that you learn to draw near through these pressing matters on your soul. As people wear you out don’t keep it all in, draw near to Him and let it out to Him in prayer. In those moments don’t wait; the moment you feel it is the moment He is at the door waiting to enter in. Will you enter in?

The bridge between conception and connection is compassion, and that compassion must be undergirded by real, true conviction. You feel the pain, and you know the Lord, and you can speak as His ambassador to those He has placed in your care.

You don’t have to go through every trial to be able to bring the Bible to bear on a subject. But you do have to feel the pain, in a sense, with people as they go through difficult times. If you don’t all you speak are words without unction. Now I ask you again, are you in touch with the reality of this text, or are you just using words?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©