July 14, 2010
7:24 AM

I am an adventure seeker and have been since my childhood days of growing up in the Amazon Jungles of Brazil. Of course my parents were adventurers as well, striking out as a young couple, pioneers so to speak, leaving their families and the comfort of the U.S.A. to become missionaries in the late 60’s. This adventuresome spirit was ingrained into me from birth! And so I find myself yearning for that adventure, for something new and exciting in my family life, in my church and my job as a worship pastor there. Yet frequently our pastoral staff meetings are less than exciting, my home life is exhausting and my own spiritual growth seems slow. But here is what I am learning. Life is about faithful plodding more often than exciting adventuring. Don’t get me wrong, the pursuit of God the Father, the growth in the knowledge of Christ and the process of transformation through the Holy Spirit, is and ought never to be boring. This is after all, the process of refining our faith and developing a working trust in the Lord. To accomplish this God puts us into the place of “waiting” more often than the place of “moving.” God seems to lead me back to this verse over and over, now seeing it through the lens of faithful plodding which I would define as living for and trusting in the Lord when things seem at a stand still.

“We wait in hope for the Lord. He is our strength and our shield. In
him our hearts rejoice as we trust in his holy name.”

I am charismatic by nature, especially when it comes to the worship services I plan and lead with my teams. I long to see the work of the Lord in our midst each week, lives being changed, the presence of God being felt, the Spirit at work evidenced by repentance, unity, growth in faith, compassion and heartfelt rejoicing. I long for the same in our weekly pastoral staff meetings. Shouldn’t that be the case when the leadership of the church gathers each week? Yet most of the time I feel so bogged down by budgets, administration of events, limits due to facilities and finances, the snail pace of ever doing something new, and the overwhelming magnitude of the problems people in our congregation face. But, I am beginning to learn that it is in these things that God is at work in our lives, building deeper faith, perseverance, compassion, and humility through service. My passion is to know God more and see him alive and at work in and through my life, my work and my family. As a result, I am a dreamer – always looking ahead, and always seeking greater things. I don’t want that ever to change. But I also must never fail to recognize that faithfully plodding is where the bulk of my life must be lived, and that’s where my greatest joy is found.

[Note that I wrote most of this entry before the arrival of our 4th child, Brandon, on August 16. I have certainly entered a new adventure on the home front, an opportunity to trust God more. God is good!]

Bill Born