By Dale Sellers

When I began to understand how unhealthy I was, I finally opened up to receiving help. Before that, I never seriously considered reaching out to anyone, because it seemed to signal weakness. I have met a lot of pastors who tend to avoid anything that would expose a crack in their armor—even the slightest hint of one. I think we maintain that image for a couple of reasons.

First, we are so driven to perform that we never slow down long enough to realize that our behavior has become unhealthy.

Second, we intentionally try to stay busy doing the Lord’s work in order to keep anyone from finding out we’re hurting.

Whatever the reason, for many years I resisted giving any sign that I needed help. Fortunately, Jesus connected me with someone who pointed me down the road to healing.

Bob Hamp is a counselor from the Dallas area. I was introduced to his teaching when he was leading the Freedom Ministry at his home church in Southlake, Texas. A fellow pastor had recommended a short video by Bob titled “The Problem Jesus Came to Solve.” Bob gave one simple illustration that had a great impact on me, and I want to share it with you.

Bob suggested that God’s interaction with Adam at creation might have gone like this: God said to Adam, “I’ll run the heavens; you run the earth. Everything will work perfectly as long as you stay connected to Me.” God intended to get His kingdom plans operating in the earth by flowing through us.

This illustration really got my attention. It confronted my belief that I needed to do things for God. We even see Jesus saying in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10 NIV).

Bob went on to say that I can’t actually do things for God because there is nothing God needs. And if God did need anything, it would be quite presumptuous for me to think I could provide it. He said that God intended for me to do things from Him. Let that sink in for a moment … God’s original design was for me to do things from Him, not for Him.

Let that sink in for a moment … God’s original design was for me to do things from Him, not for Him.

To do things from Him is to let the Holy Spirit speak to me and then to obey His direction. Each of us was created with a specific purpose and the gifts necessary to fulfill this purpose. As we grow in intimacy with Jesus, we develop the ability to hear His voice more clearly. Therefore, we are able to react to His direction with reflex obedience. Doing ministry from Him gives freshness to our daily walk with the Lord. It flows from choosing the one essential thing—enjoying His presence.

The pressure to perform went out the window as I embraced that God’s design for me was to do things from Him, not for Him. It has never been, nor will it ever be, my responsibility to change someone’s life. Only He can do that. Do you see how ministry-changing this con- cept can be?

Imagine with me for a minute that we are in your favorite coffee shop discussing this topic of doing ministry from God instead of for Him. Looking around the coffee shop, we see the barista intensely filling orders for the other patrons in the room. He has all the latest equipment, which allows him to satisfy his loyal customers’ requests time and time again. It is important to make sure the equipment is state of the art in order to keep up with the competition. That is just the price of having a successful coffee business.

However, something else can make or break the functionality of even the most expensive equipment: the coffee machine must be plugged in to an electrical outlet. Whether in the coffee shop or in my kitchen, things designed to be plugged in will not work without a power source.

Even if you and I have the knowledge, training, talents, spiritual gifts, experience, and right attitude to accomplish amazing things for Jesus, we could fail to realize our potential because we don’t connect to the source of true ministry power.

Even if you and I have the knowledge, training, talents, spiritual gifts, experience, and right attitude to accomplish amazing things for Jesus, we could fail to realize our potential because we don’t connect to the source of true ministry power.

I don’t want to see this happen to you in your ministry. I get that your discouragement is real. Honestly, my concern for you isn’t as much for how you got here as it is for where you go from here. Maybe you’ve been trying to do things for God up until now. And the costs have been high for you and your family. But now you’ve realized it’s time to plug into the power source in order to live life from Him.

Take a moment right now and think about it … What if you’re missing out on a life of effective ministry because you’re playing it safe by holding on to what you have always done? Maybe the problem is not so much about what is happening around you. What if the problem is really more about what is happening in you? If that’s true, then it’s wonderful news because now you can do something about it.

EFFECTIVE MINISTRY IS MORE ABOUT WHAT JESUS CAN DO THROUGH US THAN WHAT WE CAN DO FOR HIM.

Let this concept sink in. The megaministry down the street is not your problem. A lack of resources is not your problem. No other outside issue is the real problem. The real problem is that we have stopped believ- ing that Jesus can do anything through us. Pastor, now would be a good time to remember that He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3:20 NKJV, emphasis added).

Effective ministry is more about what Jesus can do through us than what we can do for Him. Our churches are in desperate need of leaders who no longer minister for Jesus but instead minister from Jesus.

What are you doing that is working well? What is not going so well? Let’s connect and have a conversation about it. At 95Network, we are here to support and serve you in anyway we can. If you feel like you’re in a season where your stalled out and can see the way forward then please reach out to me at [email protected]

• Website: 95Network.org
• 95Network – Soul Care Essentials
• 95Network – Healthy Church Assessment
• Read Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There By Now

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