Are You Totally Exhausted From Your Work For God?

A good friend of mine was recently telling me about a ministry he is working to build. Part of this ministry is a retreat that caters to ministry and church leaders, giving them much needed rest and refreshing of the minds and vision. I have heard of other retreats and programs seeking to meet the same need. Evidently, Christian ministry is hard, often frustrating, work for God and can wear us out, right? I think there may be a good reason for part of this problem.

Jesus Said Wait!

To get an idea of what I am talking about, I want to look at a passage from Acts 1. See if you catch the key word here:

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:3-5

Disciples At Their Peak?

If you are familiar with this passage, you know that Jesus is talking to the disciples after His resurrection, but before He ascended to heaven. They have spent over three years with Him, watching and learning. They have experienced the devastation of thinking He had been killed. Then they experienced the exhilaration of seeing that He is indeed alive, proving He is God’s Son.

It is at this point when their knowledge and understanding of Jesus has peaked and their excitement level and energy seemingly could not get any stronger. They are ready, in their minds, to go conquer the world! And yet, Jesus tells them what? He tells them not to leave Jerusalem, but to WAIT. Huh? What a buzz kill for them!

Why Tell Them To Wait?

Why did He do this? We can read what He says about being baptized by the Holy Spirit, but what is the core reason for this waiting? If we refer back to one of Jesus’ last teachings to the disciples before His trip to the cross, we get another clue. In this passage (John 15:1-17), He describes Himself as the vine and us as the branches:

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5

Work For God, But Without Him?

If we will stop right here and soak in both of these passages, we could likely eliminate the vast majority of our exhaustion and burn out in the Christian ministry work we do, both in the church and the marketplace. I believe the root cause of our exhaustion and frustration in ministry is our attempt to do the work for God, but without Him.

It is my belief that every Christian business leader should make it a habit to wait on God, allowing Him to work through us rather than trying to do it all on our own. We should not be laboring so hard ON OUR OWN to do the work He has given us to do. This is insanity when we have the power of God available to us. It is also in direct conflict with His will.

Instead, I believe we should follow Jesus’ words to the disciples. We should wait first, and then allow Him to work through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. I know this is difficult, especially to typical Type A personalities that prefer to act and move forward at every opportunity. Fortunately, when we look at several key verses in this John 15 passage, we see waiting on God to be the best course of action.

Apart From Him, We Can Do Nothing!

The first key verse is one I have already mentioned (John 15:5), but which bears repeating. Jesus made it clear that without Him, we can do nothing. Maybe you are one who thinks you are capable of doing something on your own, without His power. If so, I encourage you to meditate on the whole chapter of John 15 and ask God to open your mind to His will in this. He is faithful to teach you.

By the way, you may not think you are this person. You probably accept to be true what Jesus says in this verse, but if your actions reflect otherwise, then you have some work to do. And by that, I mean you need to dig into prayer with Him and ask for help with your unbelief!

With Him, Anything Is Possible!

In the next key verse (John 15:7), Jesus said that if we will remain in Him and He in us, “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” With these words, Jesus is basically saying that anything is possible, IF we will remain in Him and He in us. Check out His words in Matthew 19:26 for confirmation of this idea – “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Continuing to do all of the work for God on our own and accepting the limitations of our own skills and strength is madness when there are no limitations if God is involved! Clearly, if we truly want to accomplish amazing feats in our work for God, then we must wait and let Him do them through us!

Our Joy Is Complete!

If you are not convinced by the first two key verses, then maybe this next one will do the trick. Take a look at what Jesus says here:

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
John 15:11

God did not design us to toil and sweat in ministry under our own strength, facing the constant frustrations and disappointments that come as a result. Instead, He desires that we have joy. Jesus is showing us the way to have complete joy…are you ready for that?!?!

God Gets The Glory!

Finally, there is one more key verse that I believe will convince you to begin to wait on God, allowing Him to work through you. In this verse, we see that both our desires AND God’s desire come together. Jesus says this:

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:8

If we will wait on God, remaining in Jesus and He in us, we will bear much fruit AND God will get the glory. That is a beautiful picture! The added bonus here is that the people around us will see that we are disciples of Jesus. Can you see how this picture works to accomplish all God has in mind?

Wait On God!

I encourage you to think through this whole idea slowly. It is not something you can simply decide today and execute. It is something you must continuously work to remember and relearn. If it were easy, do you think there would be such a need for retreats for Christian ministry leaders?

Do you find your work for God to be tiring and frustrating?

Are you trying to do your work for God without Him?

What is you next action step?

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