The Brutal Truth of Ministry
I'm laying in my bed after a day that was long. When I say long, I mean this day started at 5AM with a phone call from a member of my flock, in which I immediately went over to this person's place to pray over them.
As I was heading back to get ready for class, I pulled over at a park and sat in my car, and I cried. Hard.
It was a combination of complete exhaustion and overwhelmed by the joy of having the opportunity to do this.
I'm finding that the very thing that I love (ministry) has some of the greatest rewards, but also has some of the most trying times a person can face.
I can't tell you how many nights in the past month I've stayed up until 4AM praying for one of my flock, only to fall asleep for 3 hours before waking up to go to breakfast with someone that needed to talk and process.
I can't tell you how many times in the past month I've found myself in my office, critically analyzing how I'm performing in the different areas of ministry, and trying to find ways to improve.
I can't tell you how emotional I get whenever I pray for my teens and their families.
What I can tell you, is that ministry is so, so hard. It keeps you up into the wee hours of the night, it wakes you up early in the morning, it forces you to set hard boundaries to avoid burnout in your early 20's, it tests your character like nothing else ever could, it has you live in a glass box in which you're always being watched, it forces you to sit for hours on end and pray that God reminds you of why You're called to this, and the list goes on.
What do I know, right? I mean, I'm a 20 year old that isn't in full time ministry yet.
Yeah, good point.
I'm a 20 year old with a church internship and I serve as a student chaplain at a university, and this is already really stinking difficult, so I can't imagine what full time ministry will present.
The truth is, is that this is a risky vocation.
I mean honestly, we're dealing with people's eternal lives.
This is great risk.
However, I was told the other night that 2 people I mentored last semester recently accepted Christ. This is great, GREAT reward.
The brutal truth of ministry is that it will challenge you and bring out your greatest weaknesses.
I wouldn't want to do anything else with my life. Ministry is beautiful.
As I was heading back to get ready for class, I pulled over at a park and sat in my car, and I cried. Hard.
It was a combination of complete exhaustion and overwhelmed by the joy of having the opportunity to do this.
I'm finding that the very thing that I love (ministry) has some of the greatest rewards, but also has some of the most trying times a person can face.
I can't tell you how many nights in the past month I've stayed up until 4AM praying for one of my flock, only to fall asleep for 3 hours before waking up to go to breakfast with someone that needed to talk and process.
I can't tell you how many times in the past month I've found myself in my office, critically analyzing how I'm performing in the different areas of ministry, and trying to find ways to improve.
I can't tell you how emotional I get whenever I pray for my teens and their families.
What I can tell you, is that ministry is so, so hard. It keeps you up into the wee hours of the night, it wakes you up early in the morning, it forces you to set hard boundaries to avoid burnout in your early 20's, it tests your character like nothing else ever could, it has you live in a glass box in which you're always being watched, it forces you to sit for hours on end and pray that God reminds you of why You're called to this, and the list goes on.
What do I know, right? I mean, I'm a 20 year old that isn't in full time ministry yet.
Yeah, good point.
I'm a 20 year old with a church internship and I serve as a student chaplain at a university, and this is already really stinking difficult, so I can't imagine what full time ministry will present.
The truth is, is that this is a risky vocation.
I mean honestly, we're dealing with people's eternal lives.
This is great risk.
However, I was told the other night that 2 people I mentored last semester recently accepted Christ. This is great, GREAT reward.
The brutal truth of ministry is that it will challenge you and bring out your greatest weaknesses.
I wouldn't want to do anything else with my life. Ministry is beautiful.
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