It has been a long season…nearly a year ago everything you knew about ministry was turned up on its head. No more hospital visits. No more fellowship events. No more Bible classes. No more in-person worship.
And everyone looked to you for answers you didn’t have. And that hurt.
As a Christian leader your faith community means so much to you. You probably had a certain way you interacted with the church body that had worked for years if not decades. Because of things out of your control, it all got ripped out of your hands. It is easy to focus on how this affects the congregation but can we reflect for a moment on how this affects you?
Can we take a moment to recognize your loss?
How many funerals have you done? How many shut-ins have you not been able to see? How many sick have gone into the hospital all alone? All of this hurts…not just them…it hurts you.
You didn’t do anything wrong! So please don’t beat yourself up…as we ministers are prone to do.
You are under a ton of stress. Self-care is at an all-time low. Busy ministers are even busier than they were before. Who is looking out for you? How will you get your needs met? When is it okay to stop and take a break?
Because these are unprecedented times we are going to fail at some things. No one taught you in school how to minister in pandemic. Give yourself some grace. And give yourself a break.
The hurt of not recognizing your humanity is greater than hurt of finding Sabbath.
Remember this is Christ’s church…and if you have to bow out for a moment to take care of yourself, He will take care of His people…He will raise up others to fill in the gaps. Some gaps just don’t have to be filled. You belong to Him as much as anyone else.
So take a breather…do some delegation…put your failures behind you…and pat yourself on the back because you have hung in there when many others would have bailed! I am proud of you and am here to support you. If there is anything you need please let me know!
