Posted by Ron Cook

Ron and his wife Rodetta have been married for 41 years. They have actively served the Lord together in ministry during the entire time and are co-founders of Care for Pastors. Ron ministers to hundreds of pastors annually through mentorship, counseling, and by phone. He has been a Pastor for 40 years and understands the stress of ministry, and wants to share his longevity in ministry with other pastors and help them finish well.

Posted by Ron Cook

Topics: For Pastors · Ministry Life

“Go Back The Way You Came”

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Have you ever been in a corn maze? Kids seem to love them, as well as parents who see this as a safe place for their children to burn off excess energy.

For an adult like me, who is directionally challenged, it’s not so much fun. Especially when you are going along fine doing the self talk that you are okay and can actually find your way out of this crazy mess of corn, and then I come to a dead end. It seemed that others had been down this path because I could see their tracks, had they purposely deceived me? No, they had been forced to do the same thing I had to do, “go back the way you came.”

These are the exact same words the Lord spoke to Elijah after being called from the cave to hear the gentle whisper of God, The Lord said to him “Go back the way you came.” I Kings 19:15. As a precursor to those words, God basically told Elijah “Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back to the business I called you to do.”

I don’t really like to “go back.” When I come to a dead end, I have found I have two choices; either go back the way I came, or sit down and feel sorry for myself, which is a pitiful sight.

Do you find yourself at a dead end, not sure how you got there but you are there and your journey that was going so well has come to a screeching halt? How are you responding? Are you feeling sorry for yourself and making everyone around you as miserable as yourself? If that is the case, I have two words for you…”stop it!”

Life is too short for us to loath in self-pity. “Go back the way you came.” In doing so, you can learn from the things that brought you to a dead end. It may be that you have left your first love; love for God, your spouse, or your God-call into ministry. Could it be the dead-end is the result of accumulated sinful choices and decisions that little by little have gotten you off track? The list could go on and on. It is the gentle whisper of the Lord’s spirit that will reveal how you got to the dead-end and will tell you how to get back on track, but you must remove all distractions to hear the whisper of a Heavenly Father that loves you more than you could begin to imagine.

“Go back….”