Oswald
Chambers once said that before we can learn how to be strong in the Lord, we
must first learn to be weak in Him. Though our natural tendency is to want to
be strong, sometimes we need to learn to be weak and receive from the Lord.
Daniel
Pitzer shares a good word in her article OK to Be Human on Focus on the
Family's site for pastors called Thriving Pastor . . .
"When my son
was in boot camp, we learned that sometimes recruits get stress fractures. The
combination of carrying heavy packs, hiking in heavy boots and running, for
some, resulted in stress fractures in their legs and hips. If ignored, the
recruit could break a bone. If the break was serious enough, it resulted in
separation from service. To avoid the damaging breaks, many went into medical
rehab until they got better. No recruit liked forced rehabilitation, but it was
better than leaving the service completely.
Why do I
share this information? Because I lived it. Not in the military, but as a
ministry leader’s wife. I didn’t realize I developed emotional 'stress
fractures' from the work we did together. Then we started a new church. Instead
of pacing ourselves, we increased our activity until the inevitable happened—a 'broken bone.' I found myself struggling to even get out of bed because of
serious depression. My husband ended up taking a sabbatical to help our family
recover.
The
depression seemed to come out of the blue—or did it? Skipping one more date
night, telling our children that putting up church signs together is 'family
time,' gritting my teeth to serve in the nursery again … had all become the
norm. In hindsight, I needed permission to be human."
Photo used by permission from Pixabay.
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