Empty... At Any Stage

​Is is not awesome how the body works?

Simply fascinating. Utterly complex. Eternally Brilliant. Painfully broken. 

For all our strengths, weaknesses and quirks along the way, it doesn't take much observation to notice when one is tired and cranky. Most easily, this is recognizable between a parent and their beloved child (said the Dad, whose own parents can pick up on the signs in their adult son).

The child simply can't avoid the obvious signs. Mom and Dad know when the kid is near a breaking point. Yet somehow, as we adult and mature, we get better at hiding our state of exhaustion. Physically, we can hold it at bay for a while. Emotionally, mentally, spiritually, it's easier to contain to the casual observer. (Once again, with exception being the parent of said adult)

We disconnect. We withdrawal. We cover with smiles and pleasant greetings; not in an effort to be fake, but from a genuine desire to protect. Perhaps ourselves. Maybe those around us. Yet the inability to confide and release the internal struggle we all battle only leads to our own demise, like an untreated acid, that works its' corrosive powers on our soul. It's only a matter of time.

All too often we associate burnout in ministry with longevity.

Pastors with decades of service to the kingdom of God. Thousands of tragedies and horrific events that they have been privy to, as their congregation and community has lived through unbelievable struggle and insurmountable difficulty. Frustration. Heartbreak. Loss. 

An overwhelming number of situations and circumstances that are simply to much to speculate. Of course, the longer one has been in ministry, perhaps, the better they are at keeping up the perception that all is well, rather than someone young and fresh in ministry who may be struggling.

But that doesn't mean, that those who are still in the early years of ministry through the "first half" of their service, don't find themselves battling burnout.  Perhaps it's not the wearing down over time, but specific events that have quickly burnt them. It happens. And whatever the cause, the effects are hard and far-reaching. And for pastors of youth and kids, the eternal impact is perhaps even greater than... no. 

Burnout in or burnt by ministry at any stage is detrimental to the efforts of positively impacting the kingdom of God.

Pray, this #youthPastorWednesday, specifically for pastors ministering to the next generation, and have already been burnt or are experiencing burnout in some form. May God begin, even now, to work the miraculous in their hearts and minds. Pray the Holy Spirit would strengthen and comfort them and place them in conversations where they would be able to release the struggle from within. For the events that have caused or prompted this process... whatever the details and difficulties, may God do a healing and restorative work, to whatever degree is possible. Pray wisdom and discernment in the conversations and the process that follow; as life moves forward and ministry as well; that God would keep them and guard them, as they open themselves again, to be used by God.

For His glory
For the cause of Jesus Christ;
Who is able to work all things for good.
For those He loves and calls, according to His purpose.

- PNC