Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God . . . ~ Philippians 4:6, 7a (KJV)
READING: I Corinthians 3:5-9
We forget sometimes that this kingdom we are building is the Kingdom of God and not our own. We get so caught up in how things are going and so worried about the results that we get carried away with cares. We sometimes let the apparent lack of results or problems get us discouraged, and we take that discouragement into our relationship with our spouse and children.
Yes, it is good that our spouse understand our concerns and the work that we do even to the point of being intimately concerned together; however it is NOT right to let our concerns upset our family and marriage to the point that we live in turmoil. We need to learn how to separate our ministerial lives from our private lives.
We are encouraged by Peter’s wise counsel to “cast all [our] anxiety on Him because He cares for [us]” (I Pet. 5:7). As the Scripture says in today’s reading in I Corinthians, we are laborers together with God but He is responsible to give the increase.
We are responsible to be obedient and to whole-heartedly do whatever God asks of us. When we have done our best in the power of the Holy Spirit and ministered His Word to the people, we can rest in faith that God’s Word will not return void but will have the effect for which God sent it.
Dear Lord Jesus, Help me learn to separate my pastoral cares and problems from my personal life with my spouse and children. Help me find the right balance of letting them participate in the work you have called me to do without upsetting my family’s peace of mind. Amen.
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