Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a 46-day period of fasting and self-denial before Easter Sunday. If you participate in Ash Wednesday here are 5 prayers to guide you.

5 Prayers for Women Who Don't Like Change

Walk through Times Square in New York City, and you can’t miss it. The place just screams pleasure. The lights. The noise. The people. It’s a stimulation overload. Crowds go there to be entertained. And why not? After all, Times Square represents the happiness-seeking passion of the United States, a nation founded on the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s in the founding DNA; it’s in the lifeblood of Western culture that we have the right to pursue pleasure on our own terms. If you ask most Westerners what they want for their children, they’ll immediately tell you they want their kids to be happy. What better goal could there be? Is Happiness the Best Goal? This is the storyline we’ve been given, but it falls short for several reasons. The first is hedonic adaptation. What’s that? Think of it this way. When you wake up in the morning and you have your first cup of coffee, you get that wonderful buzz. But if you have another later in the morning, there’s less buzz. Then, if you have a third cup in the afternoon, there’s no buzz. What’s happened? You’ve adapted to the coffee. You’ve gotten numb to it. It’s the same with happiness. No matter how much we stimulate ourselves with pleasure, we become numb to whatever has made us happy. Happiness studies show that whatever makes us happy—a new job, a new car, or a new romantic partner—gives us an initial burst of pleasure. But that burst of happiness lasts one or two years (if we’re lucky) before we’re back to where we started. We just get numb again. You see it in the New York tourists. When they first arrive at Times Square, their eyes light up. They’re so happy; they jump, clap, and laugh. They take selfies and upload them on social media. They say, “Look at me. Look at how happy I am!” Then, after a while, they stop and think, “Huh, is this all there is?” They become numb to it all and walk away. Another reason the happiness story falls short is what we call the hedonic fallacy. This principle says that just by chasing happiness, you’re guaranteed not to find it. That’s because happiness is ephemeral; it’s always the by-product of something else. Chasing happiness is like chasing the rainbow. The rainbow always fades before you find it because it’s only a by-product of the sun. If you want to find a rainbow, perhaps you should be chasing the sun instead. Something Better than Happiness In a National Public Radio interview, a woman commented on parents who tell their children they just want them to be happy: Be happy. I mean, if your parents tell you to get a job and make a certain amount of money, you know when you’ve achieved those things. But be happy? How are you supposed to know? It just makes you constantly question. Am I happy? How about now? Am I happy now? She described how chasing happiness trips us up. But if running after happiness doesn’t make us happy, what should we be chasing? In Luke 9:23–25 (NIV), Jesus says, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Jesus says, “Chase me,” and he doesn’t promise us happiness. He says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Pursuing Christ entails sacrifice, even hardship. Why would we want to do that? Because studies show that suffering, if it’s purposeful, will make us better people. No matter how much we stimulate ourselves with pleasure, we become numb to whatever has made us happy. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, tells a story of two women. One woman is born beautiful and rich, but at the end of her life when she thinks of all the money, parties, and flirting, she realizes she had no purpose. Because she was self-absorbed, she dies empty and unfulfilled. A second woman gives birth to a child with profound disabilities, and she has to care for this child her entire life. It’s a hardship, and she struggles to understand the purpose in it. But when she looks back at her life, she says, “My life is full of meaning. . . . I have done my best—I have done the best for my son. My life was no failure!” This woman ends her days fulfilled, because she lived for the sake of another. She lived for a story bigger than her own. If we only live for ourselves, we’ll end up bent, curved in on ourselves, twisted, broken, and distorted. This is what the Bible calls “sin”—to fall short of the glory God designed us for (Rom. 3:23), to turn our backs on God’s bigger story for us. That’s why Jesus says, “Follow me.” He wants to be the big story we live for—not just as the model for how to live but as the One who opens the door to God’s great story for us by paying the penalty for our sin and giving us his new life. God’s Bigger Story for Us Imagine going to New York City but only seeing Times Square. That would be sad, because there’s so much more to New York. For example, you could see the Statue of Liberty with its story of freedom. There are museums with stories of art, culture, and creativity. If we chase happiness, we won’t find it. But if we chase the Son, he’ll fulfill us, and we just might find happiness along the way. But imagine if you had a reason to be in Times Square—a purpose or calling that took you there. Perhaps to see a friend, to demonstrate for a just cause, or to serve others and make a difference. Now you have a bigger story. Jesus says, “Follow me.” Surrender to his bigger story for your life. Live for Jesus, and bring his love, mercy, and justice to this planet. Yes, there will be suffering. Yes, there will be hardships. Yes, there will be sacrifice. We may lose our lives, but we’ll gain so much more. That’s the irony. By chasing rainbows, we won’t find them. But if we chase the sun, we’ll find rainbows. It’s the same with happiness. If we chase happiness, we won’t find it. But if we chase the Son, he’ll fulfill us, and we just might find happiness along the way.

My first job in ministry was working for a large summer day camp that averaged close to a thousand campers a week. Naturally, that involved a lot of planning, hiring, leading, and troubleshooting. As I ministered, older men in my life began to notice my strengths were all pastoral—teaching, shepherding, mentoring, and leading. So I went to seminary, and slowly my managers began to reduce my operational responsibilities and move me more and more into the pastoral areas of camp ministry. Eventually, I took a job as an associate pastor. I was hired for my pastoral gifts, but I took note of operational areas where the church needed help. Though I’d left camp ministry to focus on shepherding, it now seemed God had brought me to the church to share my operational gifts. Would I still be able to use my pastoral gifting? Balance Call and Job Description If you’re an executive pastor, or an associate pastor who spends significant time managing staff, budgets, and ministry plans, I’m certain you’ve felt the tension between God’s call to shepherd and the specifics of your role as an executive leader. Knowing how to properly spend your time can feel disorienting, because your call demands one set of skills while your job description demands another. A job description lists the responsibilities your church pays you for. When you’re in an executive role, it’s often tailored to your unique talents and experience. But your call—felt internally and confirmed by your church—is like every other pastor’s call: to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Pet. 5:2). Executive pastor, don’t lose sight of your call amid the demands of your job. Your call comes from Scripture. Often, the details of your job description don’t. Moreover, remembering your call helps you fight burnout. You experience the joy of exercising your spiritual gifts when you’re locked in on your call. So don’t let it get overshadowed by your giant to-do list. Give shepherding your time and energy. To help you remember your call, I’ll outline some primary responsibilities Scripture gives to pastors. Then I’ll provide self-assessment questions to help executive pastors like you prioritize these responsibilities. 1. Preach and teach. Paul tells Timothy, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). You may be an executive, but you’re still a pastor. So don’t lose sight of the God-given responsibility you have to teach and preach. You experience the joy of exercising your spiritual gifts when you’re locked in on your call. So don’t let it get overshadowed. Whether you’re preparing for a one-on-one meeting, a staff meeting, or a group on Sunday, you need to stay sharp in your biblical and theological thinking. Don’t hesitate to set aside the time and resources needed to ensure you do. Here are some self-evaluation questions: Am I abiding in Christ and growing in my ability to communicate truth—to explain and proclaim God’s Word? Do I have time in my work schedule set aside to study God’s Word? Do my staff need any specific training from the Word to help them better understand their work? Do I have a book budget? What false ideologies are a threat to our church, and what can I do to help guard against them? 2. Equip your people. Executive leaders are often operator types who can get a lot done on their own. But as a pastor, you’re called to empower others to use their gifts. This means more than delegating responsibilities. God has called you to disciple through equipping. As Paul writes, “[Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11–12). Ask these questions to assess your equipping work: Am I empowering others, or am I trying to do it all myself? Are there programs or initiatives for which we need to train more lay leaders? Whom can I take along with me to a meeting or two this week so he or she can simply observe and learn? Do I have a group of men I’m discipling? 3. Shepherd your people through Word and prayer. Like the apostles, we pastors must “devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). There’s a formal, preaching-and-teaching reason for this devotion (as I’ve described above), but we also have informal shepherding responsibilities that require such devotion. Executive leaders must schedule opportunities to be with the men of our churches without an operational agenda—not to recruit them, close the loop on a decision, or address a pressing issue but to hear what God is doing in their lives and to minister to them. If you’re weak in this area, ask questions like these: How often do I stop to pray for someone I’m meeting with? Have I ever adjusted a meeting agenda to care for the person I’m meeting with instead? Am I setting agenda-free meetings with the men in our church to hear about their world so I can pray for them and encourage them in the Word? How often have I asked for more time on a decision so we can pray about it? Is studying God’s Word and praying regularly part of my job description? Do I include these responsibilities in the job descriptions of the ministers I lead? Is my pace slow enough that I don’t blow past people who are searching or hurting? Would my staff team say I’m led by God through his Word, or do they only see my gifts and effort? 4. Keep a close watch on your life and doctrine. We’ve all seen stories of admired men who faltered in ministry because of a moral failure. Those stories remind us that we all need accountability. As Paul says, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this” (1 Tim. 4:16). To keep a close watch on your life, consider the following: Are there men in my life who know all the corners of my thoughts? Are there men who know all the corners of my family life? Have I given my wife a list of men to go to if she has concerns about my health, spiritually or otherwise? Am I being appropriately honest and vulnerable with my staff team? Who in my life will speak honestly to me if they see something off? Are you fulfilling your call to be a pastor or merely accomplishing your job description? Writing this article has been convicting for me. I want to go back and sit with these questions longer, and I want to make plans to address the gaps they’ve revealed. Are you fulfilling your call to be a pastor or merely accomplishing your job description? I hope these questions are less convicting and more freeing and refreshing for you. Remember, executive pastor, you’re not only allowed to engage in pastoral pursuits at work; you can’t fulfill your call without doing so. Slow down and consider your call, and if you’ve been neglecting it, reengage what you first loved about ministry. You’re a pastor. No matter what the job description says, be faithful to your calling, and enjoy it.

We need to know how to share the unchanging gospel message in a language that Gen Z can understand.