If there is to be a wedding or a funeral or a dedication or just about any other form of celebration or mourning, the pastor is expected
to be present and officiate.

All this is fine. The pastor can rightly be expected to do all these things within limits, but, where do the people of the church come in?

When is the last time that you, dear churchmember, prayed and travailed in prayer for someone until you felt completely exhausted in body? When have you prayed over a line of sick folk who have come forward for prayer for healing until you felt the healing virtue that was flowing through you to those who really trusted God to do the work was exhausted and you felt almost as if the sicknesses of all those you had prayed for had been placed on your body -- and you were still expected to make the appeal for the offering and tithes and then get up again and preach an "anointed" message at the top of your voice and as fiery as a machinegun?^1.

As a minister, former pastor, missionary and travelling evangelist, I know full well how this feels. The minister goes home exhausted, but rejoicing in, what the Lord has done day after day, but there comes a time when the days of continual going and pushing wear the minister down physically.

One thing that often happens is that because of the press of other "duties," the pastor finds his time for prayer and personal devotion severely
curtailed and his own spiritual stamina drained. Who then helps him?

Who encourages him when the cares of his flock begin to weigh him down?

Of course, some hold that the only person the pastor can turn to besides the Lord at times like these is to a "pastor's pastor" -- the State Superintendent of his denomination or group, and this is fine -- if the superintendent is
available. But what if the Superintendent is away from his accustomed place and the pastor cannot get ahold of him?

Now there is no question that her ways of pointing out the errors in that church were blunt and tactless and yet she was completely right in
what she said. Of this I told her, but also to pray and seek the Lord in everything. To believe the Bible in total context rather than by single verses as many are wont to do. To really learn and know the Bible.

As time passed and both of us left that church, I all but lost touch entirely with this sister for more than a year. I was busy editing and publishing gospel tracts and a Christian magazine and visiting churches to both encourage them in the Lord and to raise funds for literature and ultimately attempt to establish a church in a neighboring town. Then financial troubles came crushing in on me. The church had to be closed before it got established. There was no more money to print literature for missions and home evangelization efforts or the magazine, no more credit from the printers,
then personal lonliness and defeat began to grip me. Why wasn't the Lord paying His bills? Why was I called an to sacrifice and sacrifice and do and work and pray and why had the Lord given me unique talents in writing,  music, graphic art and then cut me off financially to the point that in order to pay His bills I had to work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week...especially when I looked and saw gospel singers that could not carry a tuns earning their livelihood by singing. 

Preachers with half the message of truth were prospering and religious publications that had "...a form of Godliness...denying the power thereof" with enough income to pay their editors a big salary for half the work I was doing for nothing. Why had God deserted His faithful
servant? Why was I denied the love of a faithful wife and children while others who were not doing nearly what I was for the Lord being blessed with the desires of my heart?
 

The man whispered, "God, speak to me," And a meadowlark sang a beautiful song. But the man did not hear.  He was waiting to hear from God.

So the man yelled "God, speak to me," And the thunder and lightning rolled across the sky.  But the man did not listen.  He was listening for the voice of God to speak to him.

The man looked around and said,  "God, let me see you." And a star many light-years distant shined brightly down on him.  But the man did not see it. He was looking for God on His majestic throne. 

And, the man shouted, "God, show me a miracle" And a new little baby was born in his family. But the man did not notice. Babies are born all the time.

So, the man cried out in despair,  "Touch me, God, and let me know you are here," whereupon, God did reach down and touch the man.  But the man brushed the baby's hand away and walked on. 

Sometimes we are so sure God will do things one way we cannot see how He has already answered oour prayer in another way. 

Another story is told in which a man is caught in a flood. "Oh, God, spare my life and the lives of my family," he cries. As the waters begin to rise into his yard, a rescue team comes by in a big-wheeled four-wheel drive vehicle to take him out, but he is expecting some miracle from God and declines to leave. 

Then, as the water is getting up to his bottom step, he cries out, "Oh, God! What has happened?  The water is getting deeper and is already up to my steps. Why haven't you rescued me and my family?" So a Sheriff's Deputy comes by in a boat and offers to take the family to safety, but the man is expecting God to perform a miracle and declines. 

Before long the water has reached the level of his house floor and started to rise into the furniture. In a panic, they go to the roof and again cry out to God for help. Before long, a Coast Guard helicopter swoops low over them and a voice booms down, "Please let us help you. The flood is rising fast," but the man waves them away when he yells up to them and asks "Did God send you?" But they could not hear his voice. 

Finally, as the water rises above his youngest daughter's knees as they stand on the highest point of the roof, an airboat approaches and cuts its motor. 
"Here,  Let us help you," cries the boat operator. "Did God send you? " the stranded householder yells back. "Because if He didn't, we still have to wait for Him to save us." 

"God must have sent us, because we're the last rescue boat in this area and if you don't come on and climb aboard, you will all drown." 

Because he loved his family, the man helped his daughter, son, wife, dog and cat into the boat, then finally, reluctantly climbed aboard himself as the swift floodwaters began to rock the house off its foundations.  Thankful that his family was finally safe, he prayed again, "Oh God, I wish You had saved us, but bless these people who rescued us, anyway. I just wonder why You didn't save us sooner?"