Writer's Block

I have had somewhat of a writer's block the past two weeks which is somewhat disconcerting for someone that always seems to have an opinion on something. In the past when I haven't had too many ideas I have been able to struggle through and still write something. But the past week or so my writer's block has intersected with the realities of life.

One of the struggles that pastors usually face is how to balance being transparent against being professional. I realize that being transparent does not mean that one needs to share intimate and personal details and that being professional does not mean being aloof. In writing my blog I have tried to be honest about where I might struggle with sin or other areas of life but I have usually shied away from sharing too much about what has been happening in my life. I have done this for two reasons. The first is that sharing details of my life affects more than just me. I have to consider how sharing these things will affect my wife. While I am willing to be very visible in my ministry, my wife tends to be a behind the scenes type of person. She usually likes to do things without having to get up in front of people.

The second reason is that what I am attempting to do with this blog is to be an extension of my ministry work. I am trying to share my take on the intersection of the Bible and culture. It is not intended to be a long-form version of Facebook. To be honest, I don't think that my daily life is all that interesting. It is simply an average daily life just like every other normal person out there. But there are a few things that have been going on last week and this week that have been affecting my ability to write.

Admittedly that last sentence sounds far more ominous than I intended it to be.

The biggest thing that has been going on is my job search. Anyone that has engaged in a prolonged search knows that a job search takes up a lot of time and energy. I realize that this is probably not news to most of those that know me. But there are times that the search eats into my time for writing my blog. Usually it doesn't prevent me from writing but then on Friday I spent most of the morning sitting at the Toyota dealer getting our car repaired. Those two things combined to eat away at my writing time.

There are times that life just eats away at the time that we would like to spend on other things. It can be easy to lose sight of these things even when life is just humming along normally. The urgent things in life can often over shadow the truly important things in life. Jesus tells us not to be anxious in the Sermon on the Mount:

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Jesus says this right after telling us that we cannot serve two masters–both God and money. This idea of not being able to serve two masters goes beyond just serving God and money. There are things in life that we need to do and there are things in life that we want to do. We do need to eat and wear clothing. But there are times when we get so caught up in them that we do not take time to seek after the kingdom of God. So while there might be times that life gets in the way of me writing a blog post, life should never get in the way of seeking after God.

 

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.