When You Feel Stuck

Credit: Creative Commons (Toronto History)

Lately, I've felt...stuck. Stuck in ministry, that is. There's no one thing that I can put my finger on that's really, really broken in our student ministry. It's just that I feel like we're not making the impact we could be making, and that as a leader, I need to help our team figure out where we need to go next. The feeling is actually quite hard to articulate, and it's something I've spent a lot of prayer and thought on lately. I'd be willing to bet that others have felt this way before, or may be feeling this way right now. Here are some things to do that are helpful when we feel "stuck" as leaders:

Ask: Why do I feel stuck? Do you feel stuck because you realize that there are hundreds or thousands of students in your community who don't know Jesus, and you feel burdened to reach more of those students? Or do you feel stuck because your pride hurts from lower attendance numbers or slower growth? Sometimes we're just longing for another shot of momentum to stroke our egos and feel important.


Pray: Obvious, yes. But worth mentioning, because if you're like me, you're a problem solver. I studied math in college, and I love solving problems. Many times, I approach my role as a leader the same way and continually try to puzzle things out. There's nothing wrong with solving problems, but I often forget that it's the Holy Spirit that leads, not me and my tiny little brain.

Tell others how you're feeling. For a long while, I kept my feelings of being stuck to myself. Recently, I've made a point to simply share with some of our volunteers, my wife, and the people I work with, including our lead pastor. I've gotten a lot of great input and some valuable encouragement. Many times, the challenges of leadership put me into isolation mode, just making matters worse.

Glorify God and celebrate what's going well. No matter what's going on, God is working, and we need to glorify him for that and celebrate the bright spots, even if there don't seem to be that many. If we only praise God when ministry is going well, then maybe it's not God we're worshiping, but ministry.

Be faithful. Jesus didn't call his followers so that they could always be successful by the world's standards. Many times (more than we'd like to admit in the American church), following God means being faithful in discouraging and challenging circumstances. If you feel stuck and things are challenging, then perhaps what you need to work on more is faithfully following the lead of the Holy Spirit. I, for one am glad that the Jesus' disciples and the earliest church leaders didn't quit when things didn't exactly seem to be going their way.

QUESTION: What do you do when you feel stuck?

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