Saturday Scared

August 11, 2018

For three years, Saturday nights were wonderfully relaxing. Whether the day was busy or quiet (What’s that, I wonder?), Saturday evenings provided time to unwind with family, friends, or just the two of us. That all vanished last summer when I agreed to take on another preaching assignment. 

Today was invested in the bathroom remodel at our son’s. A trip to the lumberyard garnered needed supplies, and we finished cutting the holes through plates and assorted wall bracing needed for the shower drain. I built the shower stand, fit it in place, made adjustments, till we’re almost ready for the actual install—after we run new Pex lines through the entire house. Like Ezekiel’s bones—head bone connected to the neck bone; neck bone connected to the back bone—it’s amazing how one job leads to another and another. But...we’re making progress.

And now I rest. Except I can’t. No, I’m not agitated, upset, or insomniac. It’s just that Sunday’s coming. Quickly. And though I’ve had more than forty years’ experience, I get nervous. If leading worship were merely a matter of slapping together a few songs and prayers and giving a lecture, I could do that with half a brain tied behind my back. It’s more than that. My job tomorrow is leading God’s people in worship, helping usher them into the Presence of the Almighty God who made everything. I will hold in my hands the Word of Life, and do my best to present it clearly. Like I said, it’s not just a lecture. Connecting the Gospel to the hurts and hopes of God’s people is a humbling task. I have to listen to the Holy Spirit, but also listen to the people so I don’t end up offering up a meal they can’t digest. I wouldn’t even attempt it apart from grace. 

I get nervous on Saturday nights; if God hadn’t promised to bless his Word and cause it to grow inside the hearts of his people, I would be terrified. As it is, I am thankful for that grace that makes an impossible task possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. The time will come again when I can relax on a Saturday night. But not tonight.