S2E2: Rethinking Your Challenges

Hey pastors and leaders, welcome back to our cohort. I'm so excited that you're here today, and I'm excited we have some time together to go over today's session. But just again, want to welcome you all back. I know we had a great kickoff in that first session, which really focused on this idea and question is how has God wired you? ⁓ and and how we need to be a little bit self-aware and how that's important. So if you missed that, I would encourage you to go back and watch that video. ⁓ that session. It was a great session, but we're gonna continue on. It is month two of our cohort, so we've got new content for us today. And we're gonna be looking at really session two is gonna be focused on rethinking our challenges. So just think about that, rethinking our challenges. Ministry has its fair share of challenges, one would say. And I believe probably right now, if you're anything like me, you probably have a handful of things that you're facing in the ministry in your personal life. That's considered a challenge. Things that we're, you know, having to engage. ⁓ and and there's some challenges I know that I like to deal with, and some that I don't. And you're probably the same way where you know there's some things that you like to deal with and some things that you don't like to deal with. But everybody in ministry really can agree on this one statement, which is this: I've got challenges and I need to deal with them, right? And I think whether you've been leading a church for a while, maybe you're getting ready to plan, or maybe you're in a ministry leadership position doing something else, but we've all got these challenges that we have to face in ministry. And really kind of the bonus for today is that it's kind of a full life lesson. While yes, we are specifically looking at in this cohort, keeping pastors healthy and helping pastors find that kind of health in their life through engagement in groups like this. We know that today's kind of message, today's kind of you know, topic is going to focus in really in our entire life. So there's our ministry because ministry has challenges. There's going to be our personal lives, because we've got personal lives and things happen there. We've got challenges there. We've got challenges in our relationships. So your marriage and your friends and family, things like that, and certainly challenges in finances. And so today really can be applied to every aspect of our life. We are mainly gonna focus it in on kind of the ministry side. And I think that's where some of the application will be, but certainly this can apply to every aspect of our life. And so, in preparation for this, I was doing a little bit of research because I'm I'm I'm a statistics nerd and I came across a couple of ⁓ different ⁓ statistics that that I'll link you to in your notes. ⁓ but one of the things I found in ⁓ Barna dot com and then there's pastoralcareinc.com. They had some statistics again, I've linked those in your notes. ⁓ they had a couple of stats I want to throw out to you. First one was 84% of pastors feel like they live their life on call 24-7. So 84% almost you know nine out of 10 pastors feel like they live their life on call. Meaning from your phone, text messages, people giving you a call, people stopping by shooting you an email, smoke signals, you name it. There's so many ways to get a hold of us. But pastors would agree 84% are saying we live our life on call. Well, the reason why they're doing that is because people usually approach pastors and ministry leaders when they've got problems, when things are breaking down, when there's you know issues going on. And so oftentimes you and I, because that's what we're called to do, we step in, we provide some some biblical guidance, we we encourage people. We point others to the hope that we find in Christ Jesus. We point others to the Word of God, which we know changes our life. But that's about 84% of pastors say that they live their life day to day doing that. 65% of pastors, which I find interesting here, 65% of pastors don't seek support from others. They they don't seek support. So they're kind like the Lone Ranger. So when they do life, they're kind of doing it on their own. They don't ask for help, which is kind of ironic because people come to pastors for help. They come to you and I for help, biblical guidance, and things that are struggling with yet. But yet when we look at the statistics, 65%, almost seven out of 10 pastors, won't in turn ask for help. They they choose to do life on their own. And when you think about doing challenges, that's not really the way to approach it. You can't go through challenges. You can't. Do life on your own without mentors, without spiritual advisors, or maybe even professional help, a therapist. Most of the time, pastors do this, they they clench their fist and they just plow forward. And I want to caution this there because while we need to do what God's called us to do, we need to do it in a way that's healthy spiritually for us, emotionally for us, and even physically for us. And I think. Kind of the word as we get ready to jump into a couple of blocks of scripture and this kind of this idea that I want to paint for us is that as pastors and ministry leaders, we don't have to be perfect. People may put that on you, but you don't have to be perfect. I don't have to be perfect, but we should be a picture of the destination. What does it look like when we rethink our challenges? What does it look like when we put our challenges at the foot of Jesus, at his feet, and and when we begin to pray. To God to help us work through these things. And we get to be a picture of the destination. We get to lead the charge and how to do this. And so, kind of the bottom line of where we're going today, and again, this will be in your notes, is when challenges arise, don't focus on the challenge, look to God. Now, I know that sounds cliche, I know that sounds like, well, that's something we're supposed to say because we're pastors. But oftentimes we need to remind ourselves we need to hear our own messages a lot of times. And so when those challenges arise in your life, And in ministry and in your personal life and your finances, in your marriage, with parenting, whatever the case may be, don't focus on the challenge or the circumstance. Look to God. And so looking at a couple blocks of scripture here today, ⁓ Proverbs 18:15, I'm gonna read this to you. It says, The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. So there's a lot of truth in this. In fact, You can go back and read this in the Amplified and a few others, and you'll kind of see just the power of this particular scripture. But the heart of the prudent acquires knowledge. So think of prudent as being wise. So wise people acquire knowledge. So if you're wise, and if you're wise in the Lord, which I hope that at some level we are exhibiting that, but we should be acquiring knowledge. And when times are good and when times are tough. wise people continuing ac continue to acquire knowledge. And we're not talking just simply head knowledge, but knowledge from the word of God. Knowledge from the word of God so they can change our lives. Something we can kind of you know sink our our hands into and grab a hold to something that's going to be firm. And so there should be a rhythm in our lives that is acquiring biblical knowledge. That is acquiring You know what the Word of God says for our lives. And the point I want to make here is that a wise pastor, a wise ministry leader will acquire knowledge. You're going to read the word of God. You're going to study the word of God. You're going to pray. You're going to read maybe some other books, and maybe they're not the Bible. And it's like baby in the bathwater, right? We we keep that which is good. So these books that we're reading and they're kind of ministry focused, there's some good stuff there. But a wise pastor is going to continue. To acquire knowledge, mainly from the Word of God, but in some of these other areas as well. In that same scripture, it says the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. So you think about our ears, right? We all know that we got two, we should, right? And so that means we should be listening more. And so the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. So a wise person listens. A wise person listens. I don't know about you, but I know for me, one of the things that I've always had a challenge with is that I love engaging people. And I've had to learn over the years, just through mentors in my life, and just even God just impressing it upon my heart and reinforcing it, that I need to stop and just listen. There's often great, you know, information for me when I just stop and listen. So a wise pastor will listen to knowledge. And so when you think about this scripture, it's kind of a pretty robust picture because the ears listen, take that information in that knowledge in. But the heart discerns. And as pastors and ministry leaders, we need to be in a position where we're around people who can provide that knowledge for us, where we're in the Word of God that can provide the knowledge for us. And then our heart is discerning what to do with that. And so when you think about getting practical in your ministry, getting practical in your life, I want to ask you a couple of questions and just kind of think about what these answers may be to yourselves. But If we think about it practically, when we have challenges in ministry, who do you have in your circle who you can share your struggles with? Is there someone there? If not, I would encourage you to find one. Maybe perhaps someone in this cohort. Who has a seat at your table? Meaning who can come gather around the table, break bread with you, and know the real you, know the real struggles that you're going through? Who can you respect and listen to? Again, these are all important things because the ears listen and the heart discerns. And so as we're going through the word of God and we're coming up against these challenges, you and I have these opportunities to do life with others and have them be able to speak very godly things to us and to help us kind of discern what is truth and what is not. Because challenges are going to come and go, they're part of life, but how you and I respond. will speak volumes about our walk with the Lord. And I don't know about you, but challenges have a way of just grinding you down. But let me tell you, when we face those challenges as believers and as people who affirm the Word of God and who say, let's bring it to the cross, we've got to be examples of that. And so I'm asking you, who do you have at your table that you can really discuss some of these challenges? You know, the Bible even says and when we face Our challenges, believe it or not, that we should even give thanks to God. And it seems counterintuitive, right? I mean, it doesn't seem like we should be thankful for difficulty. But 1 Thessalonians 5, many of you are familiar with this scripture, verse ⁓ chapter 5, verses 16, 17, and 18 says, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So the idea here is that when we're going through challenges, let's rejoice. I know that's hard to do. We're gonna grin. We're going thank God for the opportunity to bear witness to Him, to be a picture of the destination. Even though we're going through difficult times, we can be a picture of what one should do when we go through difficult time. So our joy, as we all know, isn't based in the circumstance. It may not be based in the potential outcome. Our joy is based and rooted in Christ Jesus. And you think about that wonderful picture as we think about the scripture. Rejoice always. And so our challenges may change. They may change from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year, but God does not. Our joy should be in the creator of the universe and in whose Son He sent. And our joy being in Jesus, who came to this earth and made a way for us to have our sins forgiven. I mean, we know this, we preach this every week, but we can't forget it ourselves because it's something we need to remember as well. Going on to verse 17, he says, pray without ceasing. So again, the idea is continual prayer. So think about the challenges that you face. And I know it seems very elementary, and we shouldn't have to say this as pastors, but let me ask you, again, I'm not at your table, so to speak, but we're we're at this cohort together, and I can ask you and have you reflect on it. Have you carved out time to bring those challenges, to bring these things to the Lord through prayer? Have you done that? Have I done that? These are great questions we should be asking. And we need to bring the conversation to that level because I believe God has brought us together to be able to hold each other accountable, not to point fingers because we all need brothers to help us step in to these challenges that we're facing. Going on to verse 18, it says, In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So don't confuse giving thanks for everything. It says give thanks in everything. So whatever season you're going through. It might be a difficult season. It might be financially hard at your church. Or you may have had people leave the church. Or who knows what? I mean, these are all the things that happened in church, but we can give thanks. God, you're doing something. God, you're moving. We we may not understand it. We may not even like it. So from the deepest valley to the highest peak in everything, we give thanks. Then he goes on to say, For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So we can rejoice in Our challenges because God's will is for us to find joy in Him rather than our circumstances. So again, rethinking our challenge means to kind of almost reset how we think about our challenges. Don't ever forget that you have a destination that is heaven, that your sins are forgiven. That you have a relationship with God the Father through Christ Jesus. There should be just an immense joy in all of our hearts. And when we start thinking about that, it begins to make our challenges seem less significant. And so what's the application here? I want to give you couple things as we get ready to wrap up, but I want to give you a quote here from Spurgeon. He says, When joy and prayer are married, their firstborn child is gratitude. And I'm gonna encourage you, you start thinking about your challenges. And the things that might be going on in your family, your relationships, your finances, your personal life, and your ministry. When we when we have a joy because it's rooted in Christ Jesus, and when we have this continual dialogue with our Heavenly Father, that that produces gratitude in us. And I want to encourage you with that. But here's five things I want you to think about because when we think about applying this to your life, there's five things that I believe when I start thinking about how this applies in my life, five things I want to share. Number one, you got to get perspective. So we think about challenges, know what that challenge is. Is it is it really an eight out of 10, or is it really like a five out of 10? Kind of put some shape to this challenge. Number two, stay focused. So not only get perspective on this challenge, kind of know some details about it, but stay focused. And remember that we need to yield to the call that God has placed on your heart. That while you and I may have challenges, it doesn't change our calling. And I think some of us need to be reminded of that. Just because you face a roadblock, just because you face a wall you can't get over, stay focused. God has called you to something, and there will always be a challenge. Number three, be confident in that calling. I think sometimes we can start with that calling and we kind of quickly forget God has called us to do something, but be confident. And the calling that God has put on your life. So keep going, don't stop until the Lord calls you to do so. But if God has not called you to stop doing what you're doing, then you need to pursue it with everything that you've got. Number four, be practical and collaborate. So I want to encourage you that sometimes we think through our challenges, collaborate with others. Keep this conversation going. What are the challenges that you're facing? And think about others you can invite to that table. Keep it practical. Keep collaborative on it. You know, ask others for input, but more importantly, go to the word of God and give this thing some shape and figure out what you need to do. And then finally, last but not least, number five, be wise. Remember, we listen to wisdom. The wisdom goes to our heart and we discern it. And I want to encourage you, lean not only into the word of God, and it should start there, but let that also flow into leaning. On the wisdom of other leaders for accountability, for collaboration, for wisdom. There's men in this group that you can certainly connect with if you don't know anyone. And you could reach out to anyone in here, pick up the phone, text them, whatever, shoot them an email, but get connected with someone. I'm going to wrap it up here with a quote from Barna. He says: pastors who are bucking the trend toward burnout. Tend to portray a strong connection with others around them, a flourishing connection with God, and a sense of sense of optimism about the future of the church. They are energized by their jobs, feel well supported by the people in their lives, and generally are satisfied with their mental, emotional, and spiritual health. So I'm not making this stuff up. I mean, the statistics point that when we look at our challenges and we go to the Word of God and we include others, other pastors, other ministry leaders. In those challenges with us to keep us accountable, we're going to be in a much better place. And so I pray that God moves in your life. I pray that God works in a way and brings people to your table, to your circle to help you work through some of the challenges that you have because I know it's going to be a beautiful picture for a waiting and watching world to see. I hope you have a great time in our group discussing this.