Needing a boost of energy for your ministry? So many ministry leaders are feeling worn out. If you need rest, prioritize it. But, surprisingly, rest isn’t always the answer. The issue may be with the day-to-day routine, how you’ve organized your priorities, or even your perspective.
3 Signs You Need More than Rest—and Ways to Boost Your Energy for Ministry
1. You cannot make one more decision
It’s never ending. You have the final say on all the decisions in every ministry. It’s so much that you are having trouble concentrating. Decision fatigue is real. Whether its everyone is looking to you or the overall decisions are just too many, it’s time to lessen your load. It may be that you need to restructure so you have less direct reports or it may be that you need to strategically delegate some decisions. The key to gaining your sanity here is doing what only you can do and that means leaning into how God made you.
Tap into your spiritual gifts
The more of your time you spend using your gifts, the better. If you can spend 80% of your time living out your giftedness and only 20% of your time on tasks for which you are not gifted, you’ll not only get that boost of energy you are looking for—you will feel like you’re living the dream. Hand in hand with using your own spiritual gifts is developing gifts in others and helping them make the best use of their gifts that they possibly can. It’s hard to imagine others love doing things that you don’t—but it’s true. They are gifted differently than you are, and God made the Body of Christ like that on purpose.
Get creative—in a group
Maybe you don’t consider yourself a creative person—so get creative people in the room. God doesn’t need to have all the vision come through you, even if you are the official leader. You’ll be amazed at the new visions and ideas that can arise from a diverse gathering of creative people. Pull from all generations and groups of people who are part of your ministry, discover what matters most to them, and consider new ways your ministry can serve. Then empower these creative leaders to go out and make it happen.
2. You’re not feeling it
Maybe things are actually doing okay. Ministry is humming along but it’s just the same old, same old and you are just feeling… disconnected. If ministry is feeling more like a burden than a blessing, something is off.
Restore your vision
When you decided to engage in ministry, what did want to spend your time doing? What did you think you would accomplish? How did that feel? Go back to that original vision—understanding that God may have shifted it some since then—and think through what still rings true to you. How could you reallocate your time so you’re doing more of what you hoped for and less of what you didn’t? Dropping or delegating tasks that drain you may provide the boost you are looking for.
Reconnect with the Greats!
That is, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. They form the heart of ministry and bring about elements like making more and better disciples, and serving and reaching others. If you can’t draw a direct line between the daily actions you are taking and the Greats, it’s no wonder you’re feeling burned out. You either need to get a better perspective on how your daily tasks are living out the Great Command and Great Commission… or you need to re-evaluate those daily tasks.
3. Every day is hard
Hard days, even terrible days, happen. There’s no avoiding them. But leaving the office feeling drained every single day is a red flag. There is a deeper issue. There are many reasons you may be struggling with your ministry daily. Maybe it’s a need to delegate better, completely reorganize the staff, or it could be that God is calling you to a new work. If the the day-to-day of your ministry isn’t going well, it’s time to prioritize discovering why that is.
A coach can help
A competent coach can help you pinpoint where things are off and come alongside you as you determine the way forward and build creative solutions. In fact, if you are experiencing any of these signs, a coach can help you get to the core issues and discover your best way forward.
Resources
Do you need a coach? Dr. Bob is currently looking for leaders who are done with ineffective ministry and ready to see God do amazing things in and through the church. If that is you, Bob wants to chat! Email admin@loganleadership.com today to set up a complimentary 30-min discussion with Dr. Bob to learn how coaching can help your vision become reality.
An Undivided Heart– Sometimes a good book is all the boost you need. An undivided heart is not something you can force on yourself or others and this book isn’t an instruction manual with step-by-step procedures. It is a journey, unique to you, that begins with your unique relationship with Jesus. Living with an undivided heart will naturally lead to living an undivided life. Cultivation of the heart flows into action.
Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash