My Dear Shepherds,

‘Tis Pastor Appreciation season, which should not go unnoticed, least of all by pastors, because we have much to appreciate. So during this time where pastors are appreciated, I’d like to remind pastors to be appreciating. Our esteemed brother could speak for us all,

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. (1 Tim. 1:12)

Tim is an associate pastor in his early 60s. About a year and a half ago, his relentless workload was taking a toll. Maybe that’s why he ended up in the hospital for a heart procedure. While he was there, he got a new roommate in the next bed. Turned out, it was a man from Tim’s church. Before that brother was taken down to the heart catheter lab, Tim did the pastoral thing—he got out of bed and went over to pray for him.

But when the man was gone, Tim complained to the Lord, “Can’t I even just be a patient for 24 hours?” Over the next months that little seed of resentment grew. He’d tell himself, “God is my job.” But one day, as he was driving, God spoke in that clear-as-a-bell, silent way he has. “I did not hire you for a job,” God told Tim. “I called you to teach my Word and to shepherd my people.”

“It hit me like a ton of bricks because I’d lost my sense of call,” Tim said. “God’s word to me was kind but firm, full of love and grace.” And in that moment, God simply healed Tim of his resentment. He told me, “Man, I want to enjoy every moment of the next three years till I retire.” He echoes what Paul said to the other Pastor Timothy, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength.”

Back in the 1960s, there was a segment on the TV show, “Candid Camera,” where a high school senior at a posh New Jersey prep school took an occupational aptitude test and then met with a counselor. The counselor looked over the test and then said, straight-faced, “It looks like you’d be ideally suited to be . . . a shepherd.” You can probably picture the student’s blank face. After all, who would ever aspire to be a shepherd!

Yet, here we are—shepherds—and we thank Christ Jesus our Lord that we are, and for the strength he has given us all along the way. Just think of the stories we could tell each other. How God used our weak-kneed sermons and gave us words when we didn’t know what to say. What stories could we share of God’s sustaining grace in dark, discouraging seasons or daunting tasks? Or how about the times when some grace-charged wonder emerged from our ministry that carried the fingerprints of God?

A police chaplain told me recently how he bears the grim parts of his ministry because the Lord Jesus strengthens him. A brother told me about confronting an elderly woman in his church over gossiping. Despite her anger, he rejoiced in his calling nonetheless because the Lord gave him strength. A friend of mine did a funeral for a murder victim who left behind her three children. He’d baptized her just last Easter. Despite the trauma and sorrow, the Lord gave him strength.

It feels like Paul was a little overly optimistic when he told us, “Let us not become weary in doing good.” Pastoring takes a toll. We understand what Pastor Tim felt when he said, “I work for God.” But for Pastors Appreciating Month, take time to give thanks for some of your own stories of God-given strength. And . . .

Be ye glad!

Lee Eclov recently retired after 40 years of local pastoral ministry and now focuses on ministry among pastors. He writes a weekly devotional for preachers on Preaching Today.