If you are a pastor, you know the feeling. The feeling when the sermon does not come together as well as you’d like. The week was busier than usual, and you just couldn’t muster up the energy you needed to write. It was difficult to gather thoughts.

Instead of soaring through the sermon preparation process, it felt like treading water. And then there is the feeling when the service is over, and you have to accept that the sermon wasn’t your best. That was today.

To make matters even more humorous, there was a power surge that momentarily disabled the microphone. I was clearly shaken by the unexpected technological obstacle. After preaching for a few moments without amplification, @JaredSnead graciously provided a hand-held microphone.

I know, preachers are their own worst critics. But today’s incident provided the gracious opportunity for God to teach me a lesson. Ironically, the sermon was about pride. Not surprisingly, God used the incident to convict me of the subtle pride that plagues all preachers.

During the afternoon, I could not shake the thoughts of disappointment. I struggled with thoughts of embarrassment. All the while forgetting that the power is not in the sermon but in God’s Word. The power does not reside in the preacher but in God who works during our preaching.

Later on in the day, several gracious church members sent me notes of encouragement, telling me how God used the sermon to challenge and comfort them. Their notes reminded me of two things.

First, God uses what we think are bad sermons to save and sanctify saints all the time. Second, how arrogant I must be to think that my confidence in preparation or charisma in delivery are the primary measures of sermon success.

That’s not to say that preparedness is not important, after all, Paul tells Timothy to “…Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” But some weeks it doesn’t come as easy as others.

As the day ends, I can rest on the fact that I did remain faithful to the text even if I did not feel that everything came together as well as I had wanted. I can also rest on the fact that it is God who brings forth the fruit, not me.

Finally, I can go to sleep tonight believing that God’s mercies are new every morning and that includes our preaching ministry. On to next Sunday...