Too Tired To Help

One of the keys to a faithful ministry is understanding spiritual fatigue. This is a very personal matter because everyone has different energy levels and everyone is exhausted by different things. One person might find preaching exhausting while another finds hospital visitation while another finds leadership. We are all different but we are all the same in that we all get fatigued. Tired. Worn out. You don’t have to be in vocational ministry to experience this by the way, that just happens to be my lane, but we all get tired. By God’s grace I have learned what some of my triggers are, red flags that tell me that my tank is getting low. Do you know yours? Some common red flags are when you are :

Short tempered: When everyone and everything gets on your nerves, it is probably a sign that you are spiritually fatigued.

Tired all the time: When you wake up tired on a consistent basis, for me, it is a sign that I am experiencing not just physical fatigue, but something spiritual is happening.

Lack of passion for your work: When you start dreaming about work you could do other then ministry it is a major red flag.

Anxiety: When a situation that would normally be a 3 on a scale of 1-10 becomes a 8 on a regular basis, bothering you and keeping you up at night. You are most likely spiritually fatigued.

This is your body and your spirit telling you something needs to be addressed. We are tempted to ignore these warning signs because some of us love the cape. We love to swoop in and save the day, we love to help, and we love to be needed. But ignoring these warning signs will result in our own destruction. We need to listen. We need to do something.

How do you do that? Again, its different for everyone. Here are some suggestions:

Exercise: Go for some long walks and pray.

Connect with God: Apart from your ministry, read the Bible, listen to music, have conversation, and spend time with God. He has something to say to you. Don’t just study God to share Him with others, enjoy Him.

Put devices down: Your phone is essentially a mobile office that makes you constantly available. Put the phone down and disconnect.

Read: On purpose, read a book that feeds your soul. For pleasure, read a mind candy book that can disengage your mind.

Get away: Go visit family for a few days or get away to a fun city just to unplug.

There are a million things you could do, but that’s really not the point of this blog. I believe our spirits and our bodies let us know when we are tired and need to refresh. Will we listen? That is point of this blog.