LEAF ME ALONE!

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalms 1:3

     Failure is a terrible thing.  I have a great fear of it.  Being a pastor I constantly have to make decisions based on confidential information that others do not have.  This opens the door for criticism and negative and often hurtful comments from people to whom I am to minister.  Just a few weeks before I wrote this devotional I was told by a lady I thought was my friend for 28 years that she could not stand to sit under my ministry and that she had been waiting for years for me to leave.  The words ripped at my heart.  Humanly, I long to avoid failure which makes it sometimes difficult to remember that this is God’s ministry and not mine.

     I have to frequently remind myself that I am ONLY responsible for faithfulness while God’s responsibility is success.  If I can grasp that then I can claim the promise that “my leaf will not wither.”

     Remember the requirement of fruitfulness.  Well, a tree with withered leaves cannot bear fruit.

     Meet the requirements; bear the fruit; leave the success to God; and claim the promise – “his leaf also shall not wither.”