One thing especially needed by small church pastors is patience. It is so easy to try to run ahead of God and the church. We have all of these great ideas that we're itching to put into practice. This is amplified if we are in a congregation that is need of numerical growth and we can see some of the barriers in the way.
But all of life is about learning to wait on God's timing. Going into a church as a new pastor and trying to change a lot of things is a certain recipe for conflict and discouragement. Many pastors have had to resign in utter defeat because they tried to do too much too soon.
It's not that the ideas were not good. It's just that the pastor got too carried away and tried to make something happen. It reminds me of a song leader trying to "work up the Spirit" by singing a lively hymn. The Spirit can't be "worked up" and you can't force a program to work if the timing is not right.
I wrote a book a few months ago for small church pastors. A published author told me that writing the book was the easy part--getting it published was the hard. I have found that he knew exactly what he was talking about. I can't force a publisher to take my book. I have to go through the proper channels and that requires patience.
How much more so when we are dealing with the church of the living God! As small church leaders we must learn to wait on the Lord. He is the One who can grow His church and it is His timing that matters, not ours.
