FROM THE PULPIT (the desk I don’t want to be at actually)
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two are better off than one, because together they can
work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him/her
up.
This month is just begun and I was reminded that the deadline for my wise
words letter is the day I return from holiday, so here I am writing the letter for
May! I was rushing to get it done and to be honest not looking forward to
sitting here doing it. I want to begin my holiday and right now it is Thursday
evening, and my leave begins tonight.
So what is the problem? I am not busy or over worked, I am not sad or ill, I
have enough time to write and a wonderful study to write in.
The problem is actually motivation. I feel like a battery operated toy; I was
fully charged last July and set to do what I do best, but over the months I
have not recharged, I have set myself apart, I have been still in sickness, I
have been in ‘low power’ mode for some time, but crucially I have ignored the
‘Battery running low’ warning. It now feels as though I have just enough
charge left to urgently get to my retreat and receive a complete super charge.
But have you ever plugged your phone or computer in to charge when it has
completely run down? It makes a sound ‘blip’ but nothing happens, the
screen stays blank it still can’t do what it was designed to do because it has
been used to its capacity and not charged until it was depleted. Only when it
has taken enough charge to turn on again will anything actually work and that
takes quite a while. If you need the device in the meantime forget it, it has no
power. Well that is me right now!
I am usually very good at balancing my time; I never get busy and have not
been busy this time. I have however been loading my brain with new things,
new places new people, and a new country. and I completely forgot that all of
these things draw energy from my battery and if it was not for Ashley and
some other wise people encouraging me to recharge, the light that is my
energy would have simply turned off and would take ages to recharge fully
again.
So it is good to have a team building up around me now, a wise and
hardworking team. They take a share of the day to day running of a
community church which is what St Oswald’s is. They look for opportunities
to reach out, they get on with making new contacts and they develop new
strategies for building up God’s Kingdom. They also tell me to stop! They are
pearls of great price and worth more to me than gold.
As a church family we absolutely must share with each other when we feel
our batteries are low, or tell each other to slow down. We can encourage
each other to live a balanced life, not all work not all play, not all prayer and
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