If you are a pastor, you will be on a rollercoaster for a good bit of your career. A rollercoaster of emotions… Ups, downs, side-swipes. You will experience the thrills and agonies of life, sometimes within hours of each other. And the expectation is that you will be a calming and steady presence through it all. Good luck!!
The thrills are easy. Sometimes even getting to be so close to the joys of life will help you keep your sanity (as did a wedding in the midst of all of this stuff this past week). But the agony … The pain … That’s another story. This past week, we drew near three families walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Every family walks that path differently. But PAIN is the common thread. This is a pain they did not choose, and yet they must walk through it. It is a difficult path to walk, no matter what the circumstances might’ve been at the beginning of that trail.
That is one of the reasons I don’t understand when families DECIDE to bring pain on themselves. Life is simply hard enough without asking for more. I am specifically writing about the PAIN of breaking relationships. This really applies to any relationship that suddenly turns sour. And, very specifically, this happens when one or more parties in the relationship suddenly decide to give up the work and seek their own way. To please themselves and stop working to keep the relationship. Suddenly, the relationship is not worth the work anymore.
Yes, there are times when this is inevitable. Sometimes one person chooses this route, and even then the rest of the family will feel the pain. Maybe for the rest of their lives.
But there are also times when it seems to be convenient and/or the chic thing to do. And when you do this, you can always KNOW and EXPECT the pain. And realize that you are not only going to feel the pain, but you will also inflict this pain on others. Maybe on those you love. So, my advice to you is that the grass is rarely greener. But the pain always hurts.
And, for you pastors out there who are walking through all of it with everyone: I’m praying for you. And appreciate your prayers, too.
One Pastor's Perspective 
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