Not a 9-5 Job

Years ago, many years ago to be more precise, when our oldest daughter was but an infant child, we called the doctor in the middle of the night.  She was screaming in pain and we knew not what to do.  I remember the phone call.  I started out by apologizing for calling at such an ungodly hour only to be interrupted by him saying, "Don't apologize.  It is part of the job.  If you don't like it, you should get another job."  I hope he ended his working years with the same attitude.  Sometimes our caring and sacrificing spirits get lost through the years.

 

What the doctor said years ago is something every preacher and spiritual leader in the church should remember.  Responding to God's call to serve is not a 9-5 job.  People get in terrible predicaments at unscheduled times. Unless there is a daily connecting with the Source of spiritual strength and a heart that is more compassionate than ego seeking, the disturbed servant will likely become a disgruntled servant.  People do not find themselves in trouble according to a schedule and neither does God concern Himself with the inconvenience He might be causing the one who said "yes' to serving Him.

 

The spiritual leader may have a professional degree and professional certification.   He or she might like to look in the mirror and see a professional person like other professional people, but the one thing which can never be forgotten is that being responsive to the call of God makes one a servant first.  Too many times it seems that those who serve forget.  Too often what begins as a servant ministry ends with a heart made callous and insensitive by too many trips into the pain of others without first kneeling in the presence of the One who did the calling.  Kneeling has saved a lot of ministries.