10-31-24-DAILY READING-ENG.

EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT

                                        HITTING THE WALL 

Just as the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, the Spirit led me (Mel) into a wilderness. But it took a while. My first five years in the pastorate were great. God seemed to bless my ministry in every way In fact, things were going so well, I couldn't understand why some pastors seem to struggle so much. Subconsciously, I almost thought they must be unspiritual. After all, if you just loved God and loved His people, shouldn't everything work out great? Then I hit the wall. My wife and I experienced the most painful year of our lives. Gina had emergency surgery that required a lengthy process of physical healing. Meanwhile we learned that our daughter had cerebral palsy, and the pain of that discovery was almost unbearable. During this same period, when our emotions were severely strained, some people in our church acted in an ungodly way and hurt us deeply. Right in the middle of our personal pain, the church, which was still young and fragile, began to struggle. 

We had a lot of new believers we'd led to the Lord, but not many mature ones. There was also a group of disgruntled Christians who had come from another church. Suddenly we found ourselves in a major struggle. For the first time in my life, I became anxious. In fact, I didn't like going to church because I knaew it was full of problems and I didn't have the energy to deal with them anymore. We were in a dark valley—and it hurt. I remember sitting with Gina in the living room of our home and saying, “This has been the most difficult year of our lives, but it may just prove to be our most profitable year. God has chosen to teach us some things that He knows we need to learn, things that will impact the rest of our lives.” The Lord shaped us during that time in ways far deeper than we ever expected. He helped us understand how to walk with Christ in a dark time. 

He helped us fathom God's people in a way we never knew before. He gave us tenderness for struggling churches and struggling pastors. In fact, since that time, God has given us the opportunity to come alongside many hurting pastors and struggling churches. If you want great character, there's a wilderness to enter; there's a valley to pass through. It's in those times that the Holy Spirit can show you Christ more clearly than at any other time in your life. In the process, you become more Christlike in character.