SC Conference Ministers & Wives – March 1-4, 2015 – Pastor Ferrell Hardison ––
(Sunday)ON GUARD–
Living Victoriously in the Ministry
How to Overcome Discouragement/Depression in the Ministry
A WORD WE OFTEN HEAR to describe a sense of paralysis from being overwhelmed is BURNOUT.
What do you think of when you hear the word BURNOUT?
BURNOUT is defined asexhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.
LET’S BEGIN BY looking at a few statistics
According to THE NEW YORK TIMES(August 1, 2010)
“Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.”
Here are the results of their research:
13% of active pastors are divorced.
23% have been fired or pressured to resign at least once in their careers.
25% don’t know where to turn when they have a family or personal conflict or issue.
25% of pastors’ wives see their husband’s work schedule as a source of conflict.
33% felt burned out within their first 5 years of ministry.
33% say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.
40% of pastors and 47% of spouses are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and/or unrealistic expectations.
45% of pastors’ wives say the greatest danger to them and their family is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual burnout.
45% of pastors say that they’ve experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.
50% feel unable to meet the needs of the job.
52% of pastors say they and their spouses believe that being in pastoral ministry is hazardous to their family’s well-being and health.
56% of pastors’ wives say that they have no close friends.
57% would leave the pastorate if they had somewhere else to go or some other vocation they could do.
70% don’t have any close friends.
75% report severe stress causing anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear, and alienation.
80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with their spouse.
80% believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively.
90% feel unqualified or poorly prepared for ministry.
90% work more than 50 hours a week.
94% feel under pressure to have a perfect family.
1,500 pastors leave their ministries each month due to burnout, conflict, or moral failure.
??? – AND DID YOU KNOW THAT ***Doctors, ***Lawyers ***and Clergy … have the most problems with ***drug abuse, ***alcoholism ***and suicide?
John W. Stott, a great biblical expositor said:
“A Christian’s two chief occupational hazards are depression and discouragement.”
As you listen to the messages this week I want to ask you to do something for me ….
If you’re one who HAS struggled or IS struggling with discouragement or depression…I believe these messages will give you hope and strength and put you on a path to JOY IN THE MINISTRY.
If you are one who is NOT currently struggling in this area, please don’t tune me out. I pray that you will embrace the information and use it to bless your fellow pastors and their spouses…and to bless those in your congregation or sphere of influence.
ONE MORE THING…. It’s fine if you wish to take notes BUT if you would like to sit back and relax and just listen, I will be happy to send you the manuscripts of these messages…. All you have to do is email Dean Morgan and he will send them.
Many of us in professional ministry are living our lives as though we were an inexhaustible resource.
> That’s never a good idea.
Here’s one pastor’s story of ministry burnout:
He writes: “Several years ago there came a day when I found myself saying to my church board, ‘I think I may be in trouble.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m experiencing a high level of anxiety. I find myself easily irritated with my wife and children for no apparent reason. I’m going to see a counselor. Please pray for me.’ I went home from that meeting and shared with my wife what I had said to the board. I told her that I was going to call my doctor.
And that’s exactly what I did. I remember, it like it was yesterday. At our third counseling session, he was ready to give me his diagnosis. I braced myself, almost afraid to hear what he had to say. Then came the verdict: ‘George, your life is out of balance. You are suffering from burnout.’ My first thought was, ‘What a relief! I wasn’t going crazy after all!’”
In psychological terms, BURNOUT refers tolong-term exhaustion resulting in diminished interest in work. It’s a state of mind in which continual, unrelieved stress can produce feelings of depression, hopelessness, and helplessness.
BURNOUT is often accompanied by a loss of coping skills at home and work. When a person feels they can no longer cope with the challenges of their daily lives, this leads to negative attitudes towards their work, ministry, family and self.
- Ministry leaders will often report that they experience decreased mental energy and a lack initiative.
- They also experience ***a loss of confidence, ***increased anxiety, ***angry flare ups,
***and emotional detachment. - The list goes on as the overwhelmed pastorbecomes increasingly less effective.
IF YOU THINK that as***a Christian, ***a Pastor,
***a Pastor’s Spouse, ***a Staff Member
***or a Volunteer Leader……….. that you’re immune to:
BURNOUT,DISCOURAGEMENT, evenDEPRESSION IF YOU THINKthat it could never happen to you,let’s take a look at the struggles of a few BIBLE HEROES:
MOSES – Numbers 11:10-15–(KJV)
10– Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased(aggravated).
11– And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? (“Lord, I’m your servant! Why are you treating me so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people?”)
12– Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? (Did I give birth to these people? Did I bring them into the world? I’m not their mama or their daddy so why did you tell me to carry them in my arms like a mother carries a nursing baby? How can I carry this crowd into the land of your promise?)
13– Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. (They keep whining to me, saying, “Give us meat to eat!” Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people?)
14– I AM NOT ABLE TO BEAR ALL THIS PEOPLE ALONE, BECAUSE IT IS TOO HEAVY FOR ME.
(Next page)
15– And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
(HE SAYS: “Lord, if this is how you intend to deal with me in the ministry, just go ahead and kill me. Please do me a favor and spare me this misery!”)
MOSES was a MAN OF GOD who FELT****so wretched,
****so miserable, ****so hopeless, ****so helpless,
****so discouraged…. THAT HE SAID,Oh God, if you really loved me, you would kill me.
ELIJAH – 1 Kings 19:1-4:(KJV)
1–And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. (When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel about the miracles of Elijah’s God….. including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal.)
2–Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
(Jezebel told Elijah: “May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you the way your God killed the prophets of Baal.” )
3– And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. (This message caused Elijah to be overwhelmed with fear, and he ran for his life!) (Next page)\\
4But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
THAT IS: ***“God, I've had it up to here. ***I’m ready to throw in the towel. ***If you really loved me, You’d kill me.”
JONAH…. When you read the short book of Jonah,… especially CHAPTER 4, you will see that this preacher got mad at God, and he basically says to God…
“When I said yes to your calling … this is not how I thought the ministry would be!!”
Anybody here ever said or thought that?
Anybody ever felt a little likeMOSES, ELIJAH JONAH?
EVER THOUGHT THIS? : When I accepted God’s call to the ministry, I never thought it would be like this!!
These were GOOD MEN…..men who LOVED GOD.
These men are our BIBLE HEROES!
SO IF it could happen to them I have an idea that it just might happen to me and it could happen to you.
HERE’S WHAT I WANT YOU TO
LEAVE HERE WITH TONIGHT:
If YOU battle with any form of discouragement….
If YOU are disillusioned about the ministry….
If YOU are experiencing signs ofdepression at any level….
YOU are NOT damaged goods!!
These biblical examples PROVE that God can use you and do great things through you!
God is NOT finished with you!
IF YOU’RE NOT STRUGGLING….
HELP SOMEBODY WHO IS
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