“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”
Ministry doesn’t start with hustle. Ministry starts from a heart made alive by God.
I love that story in the Bible where Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well. Here’s a lady who was living a rollercoaster lifestyle, constantly in and out of bad relationships; her life had been defined by a combination of her bad choices and brokenness. As she walked through the noonday heat to collect water for her family, she was most likely battling shame, but drawing close to the well she could see a man waiting there for her.
It was Jesus!
He was there because he wanted to speak with her and the words that He was about to share would bring much needed life to this woman, restore her dignity and re-establish her identity as a child of God.
After the brief encounter the woman’s response was to go straight back into the town and tell everyone about the Messiah, Jesus. It wasn’t complicated and it wasn’t planned out, it just happened.
She had met The One her nation had been expecting to arrive for centuries and her heart was so full of joy that she couldn’t help but run back to the town and tell everyone about Him.
It’s a funny thing but over time it’s easy for us to lose our base. Where once we were living from a natural fascination of the person of Jesus, we easily move away from His feet and into “ministry distractions.”
We suddenly become “experts” in the field and we strategise. How are we going to grow this ministry? Let’s talk about marketing, budgets and business; and somewhere along the process we can begin to lose our joy.
I don’t believe there’s a mainstream worship leader out there who started with the ambition of winning a dove award or a grammy. It certainly wasn’t true of myself, when I started leading worship, I was just a teenager who had encountered Jesus and naturally began writing songs about it.
Ministry starts at the feet of Jesus and ministries are sustained at the feet of Jesus.
Don’t misunderstand me, I do believe there’s a stage at which it’s important for us to pursue excellence in what we do, and I do think as things develop it’s okay to want to level-up in terms of quality. However there is a danger that we can adjust our focus and attention onto career development and advancement and away from Jesus.
An old family friend once told me:
“What’s started in the Spirit is sustained by the Spirit and what is started in the flesh must be sustained in the flesh.”
We burn out when we stop relying on God and begin to rely on our own strength and capabilities. It’s not wrong to put effort into what we do, but we always need to leave some margin in our lives for God to move.
Faith isn’t displayed when we are hustling to get things done. Faith is in action when we are partnering with God. If we are hammering to gain promotion or validation while ignoring God, our actions reveal that we aren’t fully trusting in His capabilities to promote and advance what we’re doing.
We were never meant to run a ministry or pursue a calling independent from Him, this is how we fall into burn out.
It’s vitally important that we find space in the “Secret Place” to be alone with God.
During this season God has been bringing me back on track and back to the heart of worship - where business, strategy and hustle find their rightful place in a life focussed on a deeper relationship with Him.
The modern world encroaches on every aspect of our lives and as a society it seems we are fast losing the art of the secret place. Life is a commodity that needs to be vlogged, blogged or clogged with content, streams and videos.
I believe over the coming years it’s going to be more important than ever, that we intentionally fight to carve out space, simply to be alone with God.
Perhaps that looks like finding a prayer room in your city that you can volunteer at, or maybe you could get together with some friends and have an unadvertised, unbranded worship time together.
Whatever it looks like, find some time in your schedule to allow your spiritual life to breathe and grow. Get on your knees at the feet of Jesus again, look in His face. Let Him sing over you again and experience His love. Get alone with the Bible once in a while and enjoy reading it without trying to write a blog or a sermon. Go for a prayer walk, find space to be alone with God.
Enjoy being with God.
There’s an amazing moment recorded in the Bible when Jesus went to visit the house of Mary and Martha. I’ve always found it strange how Martha was busy running around doing all the jobs while she was missing out on the quality time she could’ve been having with Jesus.
In the passage Jesus says an amazing thing:
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
In the busyness of ministry it’s so easy to get bogged down in tasks that we forget to enjoy the moment and take some time out to be with Jesus. Those social media videos and promotional materials you’re working on can wait for a bit, give yourself a break and spend some time with Jesus.
What would be the use in giving your life to growing bigger platforms for your ministry if you don’t get to enjoy God for yourself? God didn’t call us to be ministers who gain the whole world but lose our own souls.
When this life is over and I look back at all I’ve achieved, I hope I can say that I’m still fascinated with Jesus, thriving in life, with a childlike wonder and hope filled eyes. Ministry is a joy because we get to do it together with God.
I pray that as you pursue His calling for your life, you remain steadfast in His love and find a place of peace, where striving ceases and joy abounds. My prayer is that you will be fruitful in ministry, whole and fully satisfied in your personal walk with Jesus.
