We’ve all felt it.
Moments of defeat. Seasons of exhaustion. Times where we want to throw up our hands and say “I can’t do this anymore!”
You’re not alone.
Here are 5 ways to avoid a dip in your ministry:
1. Make time for a personal spiritual retreat. Get away to someplace nearby for 48 hours to recharge your energy, pray, study the Scripture, and practice spiritual disciplines that are most meaningful to your own growth in God. You may have a great retreat center nearby. Or simply jump on a website like www.priceline.com (use www.biddingfortravel.com) to find out what to bid and grab a place where you can get quiet with God and seek God.
2. Develop a mentoring relationship. Sometimes dips in our own ministry are a result of pouring out into a meaningful relationship. Prayerfully consider whose life God may be calling you to invest in and pour into. Who can you help raise up as a leader and passionate love of Jesus in the next generation? As you develop this relationship and become a voice of encouragement, you’ll be amazed at how this person becomes a voice of encouragement in your own life.
3. Talk to the people on the margins. It’s easy to learn to brace yourself for the self-appointed critics in the church-those individuals who will tell you when you weren’t on your A-game in teaching, who will inform you of the typo in the church bulletin, who will remind you that the service went 8 minutes over for the second week in a row. We need these people in our lives and churches to keep us on our A-game, but to prevent a ministry dip, we also need to seek out those who will never say anything at all but rather disappear without ever saying a word. Often these people have insights and the ability to forecast what others are still trying to find the words to express. Listen to the people on the margins and invite their helpful feedback.
4. Mine your church’s goldmine. God often gives us goldmines in our church of talent, fresh ideas, and energy that go completely untapped. Odds are that in your church, you have people who are busting at the seams with gifts that your church could really use. Maybe you have a graphics designer can help freshen up your handouts or slides for your sermon series. Maybe you have a young leader who would love the opportunity to teach or preach or even share for a portion of the weekend service. Maybe you have a teenager who is incredibly gifted with a videocamera and could spruce up your announcements or promotional online videos. Seek out new talent in your church and give people the opportunity to use their God-given gifts, serve, and help others.
5. Engage in activities that bring you to life. Pressed with demands on every side, it’s easy to get weighed down with the tasks at hand-whether it’s preparing for the next sermon, fundraising, counseling, or managing the staff. When was the last time you were intentional about engaging in an activity that brings you to life? What do you love to do? What are the activities that afterward leave you feeling better than when before you did them? Maybe it’s a sport or creative outlet or being outside in nature. Whatever the activity, make time to do the activities that give you life so you can minister and serve out of a place of the life.
What advice do you have for others to avoid burnouts?
**This article first appeared on ChurchLeaders.com.
*Photo courtesy of here
