Why Ministers Love Yard Work

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It’s been a little hot lately.  Greenwood has been cooking.  With these early summer temperatures sky-rocketing for the area, most people are letting their yards go.  Deal with the yard when it cools down.  After all, it can’t grow that much in this type of heat!

That’s the way some people feel.

Not me.  I love it.  I love yard work.  I love to get out there and work and sweat and get cut up and bleed.  I look forward to it.

And, for a very interesting reason, I know many other ministers who love yard work as well.  Even among the scorching heat, the hard work accomplished, and for all the things that still need to be done, many ministers love to get out and do yard work and here’s why:

There’s closure at the end of the day.  When I get off my lawnmower, put my tools in the shed, and go inside to get a shower, I feel a sense of closure that ministry rarely provides.  I can look outside the window and say, “Look what I did today.  That looks good.  That is finished.”

While I know that the weeds will come back and the yard will need tending very soon, there is something so refreshing about a job complete.  In ministry, rarely can I step back and say, “Look what I did today.  That person is whole.  That marriage is fixed.  That family is healthy for good.  This person won’t struggle with sin anymore.”  It’s always a work in progress.

All jobs are difficult.  I’ve heard too many ministers act like they have the most tiring job in the world.  I can’t say that definitively.  I can say that my job is a joy, but it’s an incredible burden as well that I don’t think anyone can fully grasp until they have done it.  To deal with lives that are barely hanging on and depend on your instruction can be overwhelming.  To realize no matter how much you give, someone always thinks you could have done more can be draining.  And to know that when I go home everyday, for all the work and effort I have done, it’s still not complete can be a burden.

But it’s a burden I won’t carry.  I have to do my absolute best and look towards God for my reward and approval, and I then trust him to have full closure.  I won’t see it, but I know he will.  He will make all things new.  He will fix all things broken.  In the meantime, I will continue to smile at the yard work, but I’ll work even harder doing my small part in his field.

I’m with you to the end, Jesus.