So, we must listen very careful to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.
Hebrews 2:1 NLT

Last month, Denise and I with friends, spent a few days up at Whistler. Our favorite walk is the Valley Trail, around the Whistler Golf Course. One of the mornings, we walked the trail and were unusually quiet. Part way around, she made a statement, “ I think we are drifting in a number of ways and one of them is in how we are connecting with each other”.

I knew she was right and at that moment, was thinking I should be on that golf course (it is my favorite course up there).

We walked and talked about why and how to correct this. We both shared about how this pandemic is extracting more energy from us and an emotional toll. As we finished the route, we both had action points on how to stop the drift.

This pandemic is so subtle in some ways and in your face in others. I believe the subtleness comes in the draining of our emotional energy tank. Here are 4“drifters” which I would personally identify.

1.     Going through the motions and feeling sad, not connected, grieving and at times even angry and yet, difficult to actually explain why.

2.    Questioning purpose; it is so difficult to plan in this pandemic uncertainty.

3.    A loss of motivation and excitement for what the next months hold.

4.    Not connecting with those who are the closest to me, like Denise and others.

Drifting also can occur, when we go through very challenging times, like the loss of a loved one, financial issues, health, etc . . .

So…. what should we do?

Here are my 3 action points to stop the drift.

1.    We need words which will anchor us; this summer, we Pastors have been sharing about our life verses. This has been good for me, for it has been a returning to what I have found, anchored me in the past. Do you have one? It clarifies what matters most to you, calls out the best in you and gives great comfort and encouragement. In other words, it becomes a conscious re focus to stop the drifting. Hebrews 2:1 is another verse for me.

2.    I am in the process of structuring my schedule for this fall, in what energizes me and why I am a Pastor. Church is both about structure and needs; I feel God’s favor when I am alongside of others and being a pastor to them and meeting needs. Yes, I need to have focus on structure for PPAC; however, it does not have to fill 100% of my time.

3.    I am keeping a song in front of me. I prayed it, actually sang it over the congregation this past Sunday, in my pastoral prayer. It is Annie Johnson Flint’s great hymn of the faith, “He Giveth More Grace”. She suffered much; rheumatoid arthritis twisted her body, she had cancer, blindness began to take over near the end of her life and she had many bed sores, from being bed ridden. Out of all this, she writes this amazing, inspired hymn. It gives me great strength and focus, and it stops the drifting.

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

As I write this, I am thinking of many of you who are struggling with loneliness, loss, uncertainty, fear; one wife and son are on my mind. A husband and father passed away suddenly on June 1st at the age of 48; I was a coach to him. This hymn is for all of us and it is also for you two. It has a way of sticking in your mind and I catch myself humming it.

May we go against the current, as we finish this month and head into the fall. You are not alone!
The Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you His favour and give each of you, peace.

~Bruce