Today’s scripture reading is Psalm 16.
Lord…you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. -Psalm 16:5-6
Being a pastor in The United Methodist Church is a lot like being in the armed services when it comes to placement. In both, you can state your preferences about where you might like to go and serve but, in the end, the decision of where you go and serve is ultimately made by someone else. In my case, the bishop of this area makes those decisions and those decisions are called “appointments.” You can read more about this process of assigning pastors here.
My bishop and those who assist him are in the midst of the an appointment season right now. While I do not personally anticipate a change in assignment for me, it’s always possible. Typically, the decisions for the coming year are projected and announced in April and become official in July.
I have had five appointments in my twenty-four years of ministry. I haven’t always gotten the appointments that I wanted. I haven’t always gotten to stay as long as I would have liked. I’ve loved some appointments more than others. But each place I’ve served has been good to me and good for me.
Psalm 16 has been a prayer of mine whenever I’ve experienced change, whether the change was a new church or some other kind of change, whether it was initiated by me or by someone/something else. I seek the refuge of God (v1) and trust that God will make my lot secure (v5). I pray that the change will result in a pleasant and delightful inheritance (v6). And I vow to keep my eyes on the Lord, trusting that God is with me (v8), filling me with joy (v11).
Are you facing some changes? Could you use a prayer like Psalm 16 this morning? May God grant you the grace to pray it and claim it today.
