Riding the Rapids
When Your Week Carries You Along For The Ride
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:21 ESV
Honestly, it's been one of those weeks. As I sit at my desk on a Friday, I feel like I have been riding the rapids, swept along by the week's current. I feel beat up by all the water and drenched. I've made some progress, but much of my week felt like I was just trying to stay in my kayak!
What do you do when your week controls you rather than you controlling it? As a pastor, you understand what I mean. You have unexpected hospital visits, someone dies, the car breaks down, your child gets sick, the sermon passage is challenging, and that difficult member calls again.
I'd like to suggest 4 responses when you find yourself in a week where you're just riding the rapids:
Resist the Urge to Give Up or Grow Discouraged
You've heard the saying, "Never quit on a Monday." I'd like to revise it to read this way, "Never quit on any day." Don't give up!
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 CSB
Unless you've done something to disqualify yourself from ministry, do not let this week derail you. Sure, it was a rough week. Yes, you feel like quitting. Yes, you're fighting discouragement. But notice again what you just read - "keeping our eyes on Jesus," that's the key! He didn't quit, and neither should we.
Remember that God is in Charge
While I certainly advocate creating your ideal week and planning out your days, we must remember that we are not in control.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. James 4:13-17
Sometimes, we're riding the rapids of our own making, but sometimes, we are riding rapids that God sent us on. We would do well to surrender and accept what God has for us.
Reassess Your Schedule & Refine Your Task List
OK, you're in the middle of the rapids, and it's obvious you're not going to make the progress you hoped. Now what? Make adjustments. You need to reassess your schedule and refine your task list. Since you can't get it all done, what MUST be done? Focus on those items and move the rest to next week.
At this point, it is also essential to be honest with yourself. Is this really just "one of those weeks," or is every week like this? I like what Carey Nieuwhof says, "If your busy season has no ending, it’s not a season. It’s your life." Apply that to your weeks. If every week is like riding the rapids, you need to get out of the river for a bit and make some major adjustments!
Rest in God's Love
I love that word "rest." And that is probably exactly what you need after this crazy week.
When your week blows apart, and you feel like you've failed to accomplish much, it's good to remember and rest in God's love. If we're not careful, we can fall into the trap of believing that we're earning more of God's love and approval when we have an "awesome week." We'd never verbalize that, teach that, or preach it - but sometimes, we might live as we believe it.
God loves you (period). Before you are a pastor, you are a child of God.
See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. 1 John 3:1 CSB
1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. He cannot love you any more than He already does or love you any less. His love is perfect. God loves you the same whether you have a "killer week" or a week that almost kills you.
When riding the rapids, it's good to remember what Isaiah says:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you. Isaiah 43:2a CSB
God's love and care remain the same. He will always be with you in the rapids and the calm water.
Now, paddle on…
God and love are synonymous. Love is not an attribute of God, it is God; whatever God is, love is. —Oswald Chambers
Here's an article worth checking out on God's Love
Rabbit Trails That I Avoided, but Were Quite Interesting: File these away as future sermon illustrations
Did you know there are different classes of rapids?
Did you know there is a whole lingo attached to whitewater rafting - I'd be totally confused and lost!