I've got what I need.

Two of the pastors who have made the greatest impact on my personal ministry have been extreme detail-guys when it comes to preaching and teaching the Bible. They're the kind of guys who can remember the son of Eliada's name in 1 Kings 11:23 without looking it up, the date of the various church councils throughout church history, and the date of the writing of 2 Peter they hold to along with the proposed dates of other scholars even though they haven't studied 2 Peter in ten years. It's a huge benefit to their preaching because they're able to draw from a wealth of intuitive knowledge, which saves a bunch of time.

I'm not like that. I've tried to be like that, but I just can't do it. My short-term memory is really strong. I do well with big concepts and ideas, and can remember things extremely well for as long as the need-to-remember is apparent. In college, I very rarely had to study because I was able to remember things long enough to get them on the test. But as soon as the test was over, something happened inside my brain and I forgot everything I had remembered for a whole semester.

The thing is, I love details. Especially when it comes to my preaching, I love to be thorough. I love knowing, for example, that the word "knowledge" is found in the second verse of 2 Peter and in the last verse of 2 Peter, and that the word for "add lavishly to" shows up in 2 Peter 1:5 and 1:11 as bookends on the passage. But I'll forget those details sometime next Monday, and will have to rely on the notes in my Bible to recall them if I ever want to know those details again.

It used to really bother me that I couldn't be like those guys. Now, I'm learning to be okay with it. Although I keep trying to sharpen that skill, I'm realizing that I don't have to be good at Bible Trivia to be a good pastor. I don't have to think like them to have a ministry as successful as theirs, or to be as good a preacher as them. God has given me everything I need to live life in a godly way (2 Peter 1:3), which includes the ministry He's called me to have. That's good enough for me, and will have to do for the church I serve.

Just don't ask me to be on your Bible Trivia team.