Sometimes you stand between two difficult options, like Solomon before the two women who claimed to the mother of the same child, and there is no playbook. This doesn’t mean that God has left you helpless. Rather, he has given you the wisdom of Christ.

Rejoice that you can go to the creator of the heavens and earth and bring your every need and concern to him. Bring your needs great and small but also have the mind of Christ and intercede for others as you pray to our triune God.

As vital and important as disciplining our children is, we must never forget that only Spirit-empowered use of the means of grace bring about godly character and holy conduct.

To preach imperatives, commands, apart from Christ or the gospel, tears down the very foundation of the Christian life. It’s like pulling the rug out from under a person. Apart from Christ, we have no ability to live the Christian life—to love others. We must constantly hear the indicatives—who we are in Christ and what he has done on our behalf.

All of this to say, we will never find paradise on earth. We will never legislate our way to peace. We may experience respites from evil and see certain social ills dissipate, but I suspect they only get replaced by other forms of evil. The only thing that will deliver us is the gospel of Christ and his return.

Rest is hay for the horse, or the whetstone for the blade. The same goes for you—take time to rest so you can be more effective upon your return. This is good advice, I believe, for pastors and anyone, frankly, who works hard.

It seems that every so often a couple would visit the church—one person was on fire for the recently discovered Reformed faith and the other person was not sure what was happening, but they were just along for the ride.

So, whether you’re a pastor or not, don’t forget to smile! It’s a simple thing, but far to often we forget to let the joy of the gospel bubble to the surface.

This glimpse “behind-the-scenes,” if you will, should encourage you, I hope, to be in constant intercessory prayer for your pastor. Pray that the Lord would give him peace and the energy he needs to minister faithfully word and sacrament to God’s people each Sunday.

All too often, I believe, we are too thin-skinned. We don’t want to tolerate the slightest hint that someone might not think as well of us as we do of ourselves. Other times I think people are all too interested in immediate vindication. We want everyone to know we are right and that others have wronged us.