By Greg Miller © 2019

Pastor Patrick loved serving as the minister of the small town’s only church.

The pastor and his wife, Portia, had moved to the small town from a large metropolitan city, where he had pastored a mega-church for more than two decades. After Pastor Patrick, who had a total of 40 years experience as a minister, had served as the congregation’s pastor for about a year, Prescott, a reporter from the local newspaper interviewed him for a story. Prescott asked the minister, “Pastor Patrick, what is the most enjoyable aspect of your job?”

“That’s an easy question to answer,” the pastor replied. “Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve always felt God was calling me into the pastoral ministry. So I would say the most enjoyable aspect of being a pastor is fulfilling God’s call on my life.”

“What is the most challenging part of your job?” asked Prescott.

“That’s also easy,” Pastor Patrick said. “The most challenging aspect of the job is being concerned that I’m hearing the voice of God as often as I need to hear His voice. There are so many voices in the world…the voice of the news media, and Social Media, the voices of the sounds of nature, the voices of my wife and children wanting or needing something, the voice of my own mind trying to disrupt the thoughts the Lord is trying to transmit to me…It seems as if there’s always a million other voices trying to drown out God’s still, small voice.”

The pastor told the newspaper reporter he had a secret for determining whether a message he was detecting was from the Lord or from some other source. “How in the world is that possible?” asked a dazed Prescott.

“It’s actually very simple,” Pastor Patrick explained. “I find a place I can sit down where there is no noise. I pray and ask the Lord to show me in His Word, the Bible, if the message I’m receiving is from Him, from my own mind or from some other source. I know God won’t deceive me, so if the message I’m sensing is from God is in His Word, then I know I’m hearing from Him. If I see no indication in God’s Word that what I’m hearing is from Him, I just simply steer clear of the idea, and I don’t touch it with a 10-foot pole!”

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By Greg Miller  2018

 Greg is retired from the Elizabethton STAR Newspaper, after working there for almost 23 years. He now freelances for the paper. Contact email address is [email protected], also facebook.com/kidcool4jesus. Available for speaking engagements/other ministries. Jesus is Lord