Sadly, we pastors often lose sight of the power that works within us (Eph. 3:20) to accomplish the purposes of the Triune God through our ministries. We easily slip into complacent, comfortable sermon prep routines. I’ve often told my wife that I feel like “a sermon machine,” punching them out week after week. We can easily forget the life-giving power that we wield from the pulpit as we preach the whole counsel of God.

A funny thing happened on a recent Thursday, the day I reserve each week for preparing my sermon manuscript – I arrived at the church early, raring to write. After tearing the text apart and ravaging commentaries earlier in the week, I couldn’t wait to put down the thoughts that the Lord had been marinating in my heart and mind from John 18:28-40. “What is Truth?” Pilate asks. Raw meat to the hungry expositor!

But distractions abounded.  Phone calls flooded the lines. A repairman popped in to service the HVAC in the church and the manse. Urgent emails needed answering. My attention began to waver. Images of footballs flying through the air filled my imagination (only three weeks ‘till College Football kicks off!). Before long, and with very little accomplished, noon arrived.

After running a couple of errands, I sat down to write with a Diet Dr. Pepper in hand to fight off the afternoon lethargy. I began to write. I scratched out two or three sentences. Then, my computer crashed. I tried again. Same result. After an hour or two of this, I tried rebooting the computer – and an avalanche of updates promised to fix the problem. After a while, I stuffed the laptop into my backpack, along with some notes, and hoped for a fresh start after the children went to bed. All through supper and the early evening, I sought the Lord, frustrated by the day’s delays, pleading for His help, not wanting the entire task of writing and editing to fall on Friday.

When time came to work again, by His grace, my computer revived, and for the first time in a long time, I experienced the truth of Jeremiah 20:9, “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot’” (ESV).

Surely, my trials paled in comparison to Jeremiah’s, but the “burning fire” that had been “shut up in my bones” by hindrances, by pressing pastoral concerns, by my own distraction, and by my malfunctioning computer, finally found expression in a sermon written in record time. What normally takes 4-6 hours to complete took shape in little more than an hour. A sense of Divine urgency overtook the process. The message couldn’t be contained any longer!

Of course, there will be several more sermon edits before mounting the pulpit on the Lord’s Day, but this episode is a stunning reminder that what we do in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ is no mere human enterprise. Instead, the omnipotent God unleashes His power through His ministers and through the urgency of His gospel. Lest we forget, the gospel is the very power of God for salvation (Ro. 1:17). Preaching it will accomplish His purposes (Is. 55:11), whether for salvation (Ro. 10:13-17) or for judgment (Is. 6:9, 10).

Sadly, we pastors often lose sight of the power that works within us (Eph. 3:20) to accomplish the purposes of the Triune God through our ministries. We easily slip into complacent, comfortable sermon prep routines. I’ve often told my wife that I feel like “a sermon machine,” punching them out week after week. We can easily forget the life-giving power that we wield from the pulpit as we preach the whole counsel of God. I’m thankful for this little reminder given through a frustrating day in the study. Isn’t it a gracious thing that our Lord disrupts our comfortable homiletic routines? He does so to prove that His preached Word is no dead letter, but is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12). He also shows His sovereignty over our time and effort, demonstrating to us that Christ is the Chief Shepherd, and that the power for our preaching proceeds from the Holy Spirit, not from our pristinely kept routines.

What a calling – to preach the Word in season and out of season (II Tim. 4:2), when the path to the pulpit is smooth and when it is blocked with obstacles. So, fellow pastors, do not be discouraged if your routine is upset for a day, for a week, or even longer. Don’t be anxious if your “homiletical rhythm” is interrupted by multiple hospital visits, weddings, funerals, crises, distractions, or technological meltdowns. Remember that it is the Lord who works in us, even through our preaching, to will and to work according to His good pleasure (Ph. 2:13). I don’t know about the other preachers out there, but I can’t wait to unleash the Word of God on His people this Lord’s Day, because I have renewed assurance that He works powerfully through the folly of my preaching Christ and Him crucified (I Cor. 1:21)!

Dr. Robert D. Cathcart, Jr., is Pastor of Friendship Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Laurens, S.C.