The Pastor in Crisis

[Bishop Reginald Doby]

Through-out time dedicated Pastors, have ministered and served faithfully, but during their journey, some of the roads traveled, allbeit Counseling, prison visitation, sick care, domestic conflict, laity and personal matters were so draining of their virtue; it left them depleted of strength which at times has left them in a very vulnerable position; and some have become crippled or a fatality on the road of ministry. Pastors in Crisis too often do-not share their burdens and by the time it is manifested there needs to be some critical spritual resuscitation or spiritual life support. However, as God’s shepherds (pastors) you do not go to the counseled, or the pastorally served, so where does the shepherd go? When you are standing at the cross road or throwing up your hands waving for help and it appears no-one is available who understands where you have been, you need someone who has traveled the road before, and who is spiritual and earthly to assist in re-energizing the servant of God.
As a Pastor and Bishop with forty two years of ministry experience, I have gone down some long and hard roads, even felt like giving up on occasion, but because God placed pastors who were spiritual and yet earthly servant vessels, I was able to come out on victory side, and you can TOO! God has given me a heart for Pastors, to assist them in whatever way I can to re-energize His servant leaders, even if it is no more than listen and pray with you, and for you.
We as pastors must learn that what we preach from God's Word, is a medicine some often miss, why is because at times we do not see the forrest for the trees. A very familiar pasage which comes from 2 Cor. 4:9-18, can serve to highlight some of what I mean:

2 Corinthians 4:8-18 ( NLT ) 8We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 13But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”£ 14We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus,£ will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 16That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are£ being renewed every day. 17For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.