Getting upset at the stupidest things

Yesterday was tough in church. We have been trying our best to make sure that we are listening to God but, as is usual with church leaders, we are only human. We had a vision Sunday. We tried to get people to think about the vision that God has for us and how we can bring it to fruition. This wasn't easy as it really isn't something that we have done in the past. Anyway, there have been a plethora of emails this week. So many. I have found myself getting frustrated and annoyed at things. Things that people had agreed to were forgotten and ignored. Ideas I had had and that were agreed to were ignored. Why did this frustrate me? I am a grown up. More importantly, I am a Christian and I don't need this sort of stuff. I should fix my eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. Not in any religious way but when it comes to church things he is the model I should follow and not my selfish self. When we were praying and thinking yesterday, I went off to a corner of the library where we meet and knelt down. I was praying to God about what we could do to reach out the community. There were many thoughts running about inside my head. Thoughts that were selfish and mean. As I centred myself on God and asked the Spirit to help me I felt better. Then, extremely quickly the Spirit began to remind me of something. Here was I, a church leader, on his knees in prayer to find GOd's vision for the local community. good old me. But, pointed out the Spirit, there's a man behind you who isn't in the church. He isn't a member. He is cold, wet, dirty and, quite frankly, scary. He's come in for a free cuppa and some warmth. You want to get more into the community, get off your knees and talk to him. When I am selfish and think of the different things that I have missed out on or been "slighted" by, I miss out on what God wants. He doesn't want me to look inward he wants me to look upward and to see through his eyes. It doesn't matter that my latest sermon isn't on the website yet; it doesn't matter if I am doing Sunday School again this week. What matters is that God wants me to look into the community and see the need there. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the poor and talk to the ignored. So, it wasn't all bad at church ...