ministry sure has its ups and downs!   2 comments

Posted at 1:03 am in Christianity, Dave (personal), leadership, life, ministry

Ron Edmondson posted about Spiritual highs and spiritual lows and it hit me where I was at in a way nothing else had all week. There have been so many ups and downs this year. A lot of time the up moments have been followed with a big swing down. As Pastor Ron shares in his blog:

It reminded me of a principle God has taught me over the years that is incredibly important for all believers to understand. After a period of spiritual highs there will most always be a period of spiritual lows.

It even happened to Jesus. Consider His baptism experience: As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.d (Mark 1:10-11) This was certainly a high point for Jesus.

What happened next? At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. (Mark 1:12-13)

I totally forgot about that passage from Mark 12! I’m not sure if I would consider myself being tempted by Satan, but I haven’t been in the mood to celebrate the many victories done in the name of the Lord this year. I can relate to being in the desert all alone. For the sake of others around me I need to find a way to be encouraged and show my faith and trust in God and let his peace and joy be my own. It’s been tough lately. I probably owe some people apologies as a result of it.

Having people around you that know your walk and can just listen and encourage is definitely going to be an important thing. Unfortunately for me, the friends I’ve known forever and that know me well aren’t Christian and can’t relate to my burdens and struggles. So for now, I just need to spend a lot of time in prayer and try to be at peace without getting too excited or too depressed. It’s not about me anyway, even though it can feel like it sometimes. In God I put my trust and believe that he knows my heart and my humility and that I’ll get through this season and coming out gold :)

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Written by daveingland on August 29th, 2008

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2 Responses to 'ministry sure has its ups and downs!'

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  1. Ron Edmondson

    29 Aug 08 at 4:08 am

    Thanks Dave. I’ll pray for you. You wrote a great post here. The work of Christ’s ambassadors is a constant battle between triumph and tragedy sometimes, especially since we carry the burdens of others as well as our own.

    You might read Paul’s account in 2 Cor 1 or Elijah’s account in 1 Kings 19. Two great men of God who battled the other side of wonderful.

    Stand strong!

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  2. daveingland

    29 Aug 08 at 12:37 pm

    Pastor Ron, thanks for your prayer & encouragement! I definitely relate to the Apostle Paul quite bit. Not only because of all the things he faced during his ministry, but also because of his dramatic transformation from unbeliever in the Messiah to fervent follower of The Christ.

    I’m spending time this weekend meditating in the two chapters you referenced.

    Thank you for your service on behalf of the Lord and your heart for seeing those in ministry endure to keep fighting the good fight of faith!

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