PASTORS IN PADAN-ARAM

Read Genesis 27-31

(I felt especially compelled early this morning to write and post what follows. It won’t mean much, if anything, to most people, but I’m convinced it’s meant to help some person or persons in particular; possibly and probably, some pastor somewhere).

Jacob went through some hard and heartbreaking times for twenty years in a place called Padan-aram. He was where he was supposed to be; doing what he believed  he was supposed to do, but it wasn’t easy for Jacob to stay in Padan-aram. Neither was it easy for him to leave, knowing that it was according to the providence of God that he was where he was.

The time came when God released Jacob from his responsibilities in Padan-aram, and Jacob left with God’s blessing to go to Canaan. Matthew Henry commented on Jacob’s Padan-aram experience as follows:

“Though Jacob had met with very hard usage here, yet he would not quit his place till God bade him. He came thither by orders from heaven, and there he would stay till he was ordered back. It is our duty to set ourselves, and it will be our comfort to see ourselves, under God’s guidance, both in our going and in our coming in.”

What Matthew Henry wrote could be applied to any number of Padan-aram-like situations, at home, at work, etc. that people can find themselves in. But I want to apply Jacob’s experience and Matthew Henry’s comments especially to pastors who may feel, right now, that they’re in a situation not unlike Jacob’s.

A pastor may be reading this who would like to leave his Padan-aram of a pastorate, and for any number of reasons, and humanly speaking, he’d be justified if he did. But, he can’t. He knows that the same consciousness of God’s calling that brought him to the place he’s in must come into play if and when it’s time for him to leave.

The Bible says, “As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place” (Prov. 27:8). A bird that leaves its nest may prevent eggs that were meant to be hatched from hatching, or it may be depriving little ones in the nest of the protection and provision they need (John 21:15, 16; Acts 20:29; 1 Pet. 5:2).

A pastor who prematurely wanders from his pastorate, however much of a Padan-aram place it may be, is like “a bird that wandereeth from her nest.” A situation is created that isn’t good for the wandering bird or for the nest left behind.

Four suggestions for any pastor in Paddan-aram: (1) Be careful while you’re where you are not to let frustration over what is or isn’t happening become a place through which Satan can steal your joy and sap your strength while you are in Padan-aram (Neh. 8:10; James 1:2, 3; Rom. 8:28, 29); (2) Double down on doing what God sent you do right where you are; (3) continue to wait on the Lord for direction; and (4) share this article with your wife.