Challenges & Difficulties

As many of you know, last week I spoke at a preteen camp. One of the exciting things about camp is that you unplug from everyday life and simply enjoy the presence of God. We had worship services twice a day, everyone was happy, food was cooked for us three times a day, no laundry to do or dishes to clean. God was moving, preteens were connecting to God and all is good in the world.

Then, I get back to normal life this week. I, like many of you after summer, have to deal with real life issues. My wife doesn’t think I am as cool as the preteens at camp, there is laundry to do, dishes to clean and challenges that arise at home and work. Sort of takes a few days to adjust back to normal life.

Relate? Maybe as you close out summer programs, you dive right into planning for the fall and run into a lot of challenges. Or maybe after God moves at camp, you get a nasty email or phone call from a camper that really throws you off. We’ve all been there.

As ministry leaders, we tend to react in different ways to challenges and difficulties.

First, we dive into ministry faster and harder. We get sort of a “spiritual high” when seeing God move in and through the students and leaders we serve. When we face life’s challenges, either at home or church, we minimize or ignore them. Ministry becomes our escape. We keep busy, plugging away doing more and more.

Second, our optimistic attitudes blind us to the golden nugget. I am an optimist. I expect everyone to get along, people to love each other more than themselves, projects that benefit others to succeed and to experience of sense of God’s peace at home, church and in the world. This optimistic attitude is one of my greatest strengths, but also my biggest weaknesses. I have found many in ministry to wrestle with the same issue. The downside of being overly optimistic is we miss the golden nugget that God is teaching us. God uses trials, challenges and difficulties to mold and shape us. Instead of getting frustrated and depressed when trails come our way, stop and pause (something I am learning). Reflect on what God is speaking to you and wanting you to learn through the trail. What’s the golden nugget?

My problem, and I think many of you struggle with this as well, is that I combine the two above reactions. They work together to create an unhealthy habit. We minimize or ignore difficulties, throw ourselves in ministry to avoid them (but spiritualize it). We get angry that we have to deal with the challenges and miss the golden nugget God is trying to teach us. God wants us to stop, pause and reflect when life throws us challenges. That’s where the tension arises. We get busy when God wants us to instead slow down and allow Him to change us through the difficulty.

The key is to allow space for God in our busy, often chaotic worlds. It’s important to build habits that allow us to connect with God. We need to find out what works for us and do it often. For me, reading, journaling, biking and allowing mini-breaks throughout the day work great. When we allow space for God, we’re able to recognize unhealthy patterns this this in our lives.