As I talk to--and hear from--pastors' wives in various places, I notice the uncertainties that plague them. Will the support come in this month? Where will we live when my husband's interim position ends? What decision about my future will the pulpit-search committee make at tonight's meeting? Who will show up next Sunday? Who won't?
In changeable earthly circumstances peace is elusive. Tomorrow's session meeting might radically change the life of a pastor's wife, and there's often little she can do about it. Pray for the pastor's wife that her peace would come not from an outwardly settled situation but from an unchanging God. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you" (Is. 26:3).
And the peace that she has in the fellowship of her kind God will overflow in peace toward others. Pray for your pastor's wife to not simply have peace, but also to make peace.
As far as it depends on her, she is called to live at peace with all men (Rom. 12:18): her husband, her children, her church, and her neighbors. Daily, she needs prayer that she might die to herself and put the interests of others ahead of her own.
Like any other mom, a pastor's wife with children will have 247 opportunities each day to assist her children in living at peace. So, too, she often can be an instrument of peace between people in her church, fostering a spirit of unity rather than divisions, speaking a kind word where there is tension, and welcoming others unconditionally into her home and life.
"Blessed are the peacemakers" said Jesus (Matt. 5:9). Pray for the pastor's wife.
Also in this series:
Love
Joy
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
The peaceful Christian woman stands in contrast to the franticness (if that is a word) that I see in many woman today. The peace that passes understanding is such a powerful witness to the Gospel. Thanks for writing about it.
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