1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”

I have lost track now of how long my church has been without a “permanent” pastor.  We had an interim, which I love, for about two years and when he stepped down we thought we were really close to having a new pastor seated.  Here we are months later with another pseudo interim pastor who has agreed to stay with us through June and again it seems we are pretty close to having a new pastor seated.  It is hard to move forward without leadership.  Sheep get lost and wander off without their shepherd to guide them.  God has been gracious to my church in providing great leadership in the space between called leaders.  God has been gracious in moving people within the church to step forward and grow into leadership roles they didn’t think they would do.  As I prepare to lead the vacation bible school in a few weeks, I am feeling very much like one of those people.  I am so grateful for the people who volunteered to help me in this project and I pray it will be a blessing to the kids in the church and the neighborhood around us.  Let us encourage each other...

Lord,

Soothe the anxiety that lurks below the surface.  We pray, we work and we fret.  Open our eyes to see the encouragement you have sent through others to ease the burdens we bear and guide us to be ballast for other people’s burdens as well.  Amen.