Everyone has a story

Every Life Has A Story - Chick-fil-A from Dan T. Cathy on Vimeo.

(- great video Chick-Fil-A uses to train their people)

"Blood, Sweat, and Tears." was the name of the band that sung the chart-topping song "Spinning Wheel" back in the day. It came to mind this morning as I started work on Wednesday's Bible study for adults in Hebrews. It seems like the Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday wheel never stops spinning for pastors like me. You are prone to begin thinking about the next event the moment an event comes to an end. And with all a church does, and the overlapping nature of preparation for it - it can get dizzying.

There are times that the routine can numb you to why you do it. Whenever I find myself getting frustrated with the work of preparing to teach, I make myself stop. Then I pray through our church's directory. I look at the family pictures and of those of individuals and I ask God to help me find and deliver a word from Him that will help them know that He loves them. That checkstep has never failed me yet. Just like the video above, it makes me stop and think about the person and what they may be going through.

Pastors know more than most people about what's going on in the neighborhood - in the families that we see at church each week, in the families we used to see or know about through other associations. When I first became a pastor I was blown away by what people go through. As the years have gone by and our relationships have deepened, I have more access than ever before, and I can tell you that almost everyone is wrestling with something.

Everybody hurts, sometimes.

So we pray for each other, doing our part in God's work - bearing each other's burdens, but more importantly being sensitive to the hidden hurts that can drive people to hurt other people. Empathy, compassion, caring - that's at the core of what being a Christian is all about. "We love, because He first loved us." Remember to stop and think - what story are they living out? And then "What would Jesus do?"