Encouraging Your Pastor's Wife

 

 

    Healthy pastors are vital to the development of thriving churches, strong communities, and healthy families.  But caring for your Pastor means caring for your Pastor’s wife and children too.  In many ways she has the most difficult role in the church.  Remember Pastors are special, but a Pastor’s wife is a blessing.  Here are some ways to be an encouragement to her.  Tell her:

1.   I am praying for you.  We love you.

2.   Thank you for sharing your husband with us.

3.   Thank you for sharing your lives with us.  We love you.

4.   I do not want anything from you but your friendship.

5.   Let me help.  We love you.

6.   You have such great kids.

7.   Let me know if you need anything.  We love you.

8.   I overheard this compliment.  “You are a success at ( insert career choice).”

9.   I really missed you this morning.

10.   How do you feel?  We love you.

11.   We appreciate what you bring to the church.

12.   We would love to put you on staff so you can serve the Lord full time.

13.   Here’s a gift card for you and your husband to have a date.

14.   I would like to keep your children as often as once a week so you and your      husband can spend time together.

15.   We love you and we love your husband.

16.   Thank you for all you do.

17.   Your marriage is such an inspiration to me.

18.   Can I take you to lunch?  We will not talk about church, and I have no complaints.  I just want to spend time with you.  (Let her know up front there is no agenda so she won’t worry about it.)

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                                                               What Is Your Wilderness?

  Presented by Bette Pycraft

  Let me ask you a question.  What is your Wilderness?  All of us, at some time, have experienced a time or journey in the     Wilderness.  It may be the journey of infidelity, the death of a loved one, infertility, a wayward child, the loss of a job or   ministry, caring for a sick or elderly loved one or an unexpected diagnosis.  But whatever our Wilderness, we have all   experienced a time where we’ve felt lonely, abandoned, hopeless, far from God, and have felt our prayers have not been   heard or answered.

  This year, I have once again, been blessed to be involved in a wonderful Ladies Bible Study.  We are studying the book of  Mark, using the Inductive Bible Method. I love the word studies so much.  God has used this study to teach me so much about the Wilderness, in a way I’ve never thought of before.  I’d like to share with you some of what I’m learning.

In Mark 1, we see the Wilderness mentioned several different times.  In verse 4, we see John the Baptist appearing, baptizing in the Wilderness.  In verses 9-12, we see Jesus’ baptism and immediately He is compelled by the Spirit to go into the Wilderness where He is tempted for 40 Days.  In verse 35, Jesus sought out the Wilderness to spend time alone with His Heavenly Father.  And in verse 45, Jesus sought the Wilderness (desolate places) to get away from the crowds in the towns  and cities.

 The Greek word for “Wilderness” is “eremos” (e-ra-mos).  It is the SAME word used for “desert, desolate place, uninhabited place, secluded place, solitary or lonely place.” (Blue Letter Bible)   It makes for a great word study on your own.

Why do we find ourselves in the Wilderness?  There are 3 reasons why we might experience this.  1:  As a result of our own sin.  When we sin, our sin separates us from God.  He allows us to feel the consequences so that we will turn back to Him.   2:  As a result of someone else’s sin.  This is because of the consequence of living in a fallen world.  Our example is Jesus, Who was sinless and faultless, yet still found Himself in the Wilderness.  3:  God may use a Wilderness experience to prepare us to minister to others.

So what can we learn from Jesus, Who is our example, when we are in the Wilderness? 

1.  God Himself is Present There.    God does not abandon us when we are in the Wilderness even though we may feel it sometimes.  In Mark 1, we see all three persons of the Trinity at work in the Wilderness.  In verse 12, we see the Spirit leading Jesus into the Wilderness while in verse 35 we see Jesus retreating to the Wilderness.  God, in all His fullness will be with us in our Wilderness too.  God will meet you, the Spirit will lead you and Jesus will be your example in your Wilderness.  You are NEVER alone!!

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1. God Provides for Us in Our Wilderness.  In Mark 1:11-12, we see God the Father expressing His pleasure in Jesus, the Son.  Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the Wilderness.  Jesus was drawn into the Wilderness even though He did not seek it.  This sequence of events help us to see that God’s pleasure in us does not exempt us from the Wilderness and our Wilderness experience does not signify God’s displeasure in us.  We may find ourselves in the Wilderness even if we do not seek it.  Difficult as the road may be,  Jesus’ temptation in the Wilderness shows that God provides for us there.

 

During Jesus’ time in the Wilderness, God visibly protected Him from the spiritual attacks of Satan and from the physical dangers of hunger, wild beasts and exposure to the elements.  In

Mark 1:13, we see that “angels ministered to Him”.  To minister means to be a servant, attendant, or to wait upon.  Angels supplied Jesus with what He needed in the Wilderness and they dutifully waited upon Him.  Sometimes, God’s protection in our Wilderness comes in the form of spiritual and physical protection and sometimes it comes in the form of other people who come along side of us and minister to us.  Satan is often busy in the Wilderness but so is the Spirit of God.  So what is your Wilderness?  God will provide for you there.

 

1.  God Often Uses our Wilderness Experience to Prepare Us  for the Next Step in Our Journey— Which May Include Ministering to Others inTheir Wilderness.     In Mark 1:32, crowds came to Jesus for healing and to have demons cast out after the sun went down.  Even after a late night, Jesus would get up early to be alone with the Father.  In this case, Jesus’ presence in the Wilderness was a matter of choice.  He chose to leave behind the demands of public ministry to be alone with His Heavenly Father.  Unlike His temptation in the Wilderness, here Jesus sought out the Wilderness to leave behind and to withdraw from the pressures of ministry and just to be present with the Father.  This was a habit of His as seen in Luke 5:16.    But even here, His disciples found Him and told Him that He was needed elsewhere.  Jesus didn’t mind.  He continued to fulfill His calling by preaching in synagogues all throughout Galilee.  He drew strength from the time He spent with the Father.  In other words, His public ministry was fueled by His private devotion.  He was renewed and refreshed to reach out to others in their Wilderness.

 

So again, what is your Wilderness?  God is preparing your next step.  Maybe your time in your Wilderness is preparing you to reach out and help someone else in their Wilderness.   Remember God does not waste a wound.   The promise of Romans 8:28 is seen over and over again.  A Wilderness which is barren, lonely and lifeless can produce good spiritual fruit.

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So here we see what God is doing during our time in the Wilderness.  But what should  and can we do when we find ourselves in the Wilderness.  God gives us two tools to use.

1.  Hide God’s Word in our Hearts.   During Jesus’ temptation, He refuted each attack from Satan with the Truth of God’s Word.   Each time, Jesus’ answer began with “It is written,” and Satan left Him.  When we find ourselves in the Wilderness, Satan will lie to us.  He will tell us that God has abandoned us and that He doesn’t love us or that this is all our fault and things are hopeless.    Just like Jesus, we can stand firm by rehearsing the Truth of the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit.  But that means, we must be in God’s Word and hiding It in our hearts.  We need to preach the Gospel to ourselves!!

Devote Ourselves to Prayer.  Jesus made a habit of retreating to secluded places (Wilderness)  to spend time in prayer with His Father.  This refreshed Him and prepared Him for the work of the day.   We must retreat from the demands of our daily lives and spend time with the Father too.   Jim Cymballa states  “The Truth of the matter is, the Devil is not terribly frightened by our human efforts and credentials but he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we lift our hearts to God.”  Time in prayer should be more than a task to check off our list.  It should be the fuel of our lives and ministry.

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                      "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."  Mark6:31