Worth the Pain

Monday Devotion

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

James 1:2-4

One of the biggest temptations I face on the road is my attitude toward worship leaders.  I’m ashamed to say I have a running feud with these servants of God.  While I do my best to fight my negative attitude, it’s still difficult for me not to think, as they are being introduced, So there’s the enemy.

Whence cometh this sinful disposition?

So many times a pastor has told me I’ll have thirty minutes to preach, but because there’s a second service, I need to make sure I quit speaking at, say, 10:10.  I then watch as the worship leader goes from chorus to chorus, and then, just in case he thinks we didn’t get the message the first thirteen times we sang an earlier song, goes back to it yet one more time for the grand finale.  Suddenly my thirty minutes has shrunk to twenty.  On the way to the podium I have to mentally cut out a third of my sermon, frantically trying to manufacture new transitions to cover over the points that now will never get delivered.