The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul....—Psalm 23:1-3
Human nature being what it is, the man of God may soon adopt an air of constant piety and try to appear what the public thinks he is. The fixed smile and hollow tones of the professional cleric are too well known to require further mention.
All this show of godliness, by the squeeze of circumstances and through no fault of the man himself, may become a front behind which the man hides, a plaintive, secretly discouraged and lonely soul. Here is no hypocrisy, no intentional double living, no actual desire to deceive. The man has been mastered by the circumstances. He has been made the keeper of other people's vineyards but his own vineyard has not been kept. So many demands have been made upon him that they have long ago exhausted his supply. He has been compelled to minister to others while he himself is in desperate need of a physician.
"Lord, I pray for pastors everywhere today who are indeed exhausted and depleted. The task is so overwhelming and the demands so extreme. Come today with a fresh breath of Your Spirit to refresh, renew, and restore. Ne'Eman."
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As we accept the call from God, we begin our journey {Leadership}, we find ourselves pouring out to so many, given an ear, time, monetary support, our heart is so far into it. Our mindset is in the right place, we know God has given a mandate; Matt. 28:18-20 the great commission; go ye therefore; and as Jesus ask Peter John 21:15-17 "do you love me more than these, then "feed my lambs; Tend My sheep; Feed My Sheep". And as it states in our reading "He has been made the keeper of other people's vineyards, but his own vineyard has not been kept". Ending up where no one to pour into us, to give us a lending ear, to hear all our issues, disappointments, doubtful things, all that is happening to us. I know who it is to be as stated in our reading. We must pray and put thing into perspective and take care of our own as well as doing ministry.