A Word For The Leaders: Minister Ian T. Simmons (my article for www.apcic.org)

[Minister Ian T. Simmons]

Have you ever been to a point in your life where you are tired, from doing the work of the ministry? Interesting enough you can be in ministry, but not be productive. In the body of Christ leaders everywhere are reaching a crucial point in their life that nobody wants to talk about that is experiencing burn out. It is real easy to get caught up in the work that we forget the Lord of the work. We are distracted by those who are blessed by our ministry and to be honest we are on spiritual E. Too often, we hear leaders frustrated in the work, giving up and walking away, why? They forget that they are only mere men and women, not superman; at the end of the day superman took off his costume and he was back to being Clark Kent. We focus so much attention in rescuing others meanwhile our very souls are perishing.

We as leaders spend more time being busy, but we must ask ourselves a question Are we being fruitful? Having a numerous amount of preaching engagements does not mean you are being fruitful, having thousands of members in your church does not mean you are being fruitful and the amount of money you have does not mean you are being fruitful. Being fruitful comes with spending time with the Lord through: consecration, fasting, prayer, devotion, worship and spending time in the presence of the Lord. In order for us to be able to minister effectively to the needs of the people we have to always have our cups filled. David writes in book of Psalm chapter 23 verse 5 the latter clause, "You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows"; when you are connected you will never run out.

When a leader is experiencing burn out, that is not the green light to keep going; it means that you must stop. Burn out opens the door to depression, stress and frustration. God is more concerned about you than He is your ministry. David says in Psalm 23 verses 2-3, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul". The Bible talks about in the book of Luke chapter 10 verses 38-42. We see in this text that Jesus as per His custom to visit the house of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. This particular time while Jesus is in the house teaching, Mary sat at His feet meanwhile Martha was being preoccupied about the serving. She began to complain to Jesus, that Mary has left her to do the serving alone, but Jesus said to her in verse 41, "Martha, Martha you are anxious and troubled about many things, but Mary has chosen the better thing". We as leaders have adapted the mind set of Martha, being preoccupied in our serving and forgetting the most important thing and that is sitting at the feet of Jesus and hearing what He has to say.

Martha was preoccupied which caused her to be anxious and even frustrated with Mary. That is like many of us who serve as leaders, when we are experiencing frustration and out of that frustration we begin to take it out on other people. It was this same frustration that Moses experienced in Numbers chapter 20, which caused him to disobey God and because of his disobedience he was not allowed to enter into Canaan, he was only able to see it from a distant. Frustration can cause you to miss out on the promises of God for your life and die prematurely (spiritual death and even sometimes physical death). 3rd John verse 2 says, "Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers".

God is concerned about you, even in this time of recession, sickness, diseases, people being fired from their jobs; maybe it may not be a natural situation. It could be that you are experiencing set back in your ministry, could it be that you are dealing with a prophetic word that has not come to pass, people in your ministry have walked out on you, maybe you are tired and weary, or your spiritual walk have gotten cold: I always say, that you will never get cold unless you stay close to the fire. You need to draw near to the fire, draw near to be presence of God and get restored, let the Lord minister to you, allow Him to pour out fresh oil for you, let Him give you the garment of praise for your heaviness. Burn out, frustration does not have to be the final outcome; surely your help cometh from the Lord.

[Pastor Michael Samuels]

Great food for thought. Good post!

[Elder Dreama Gore]

Minister Simmons,
I could not agee more with you. I recently returned from a sabbatical. I took a lot of flack for it. I was even called selfish. My relationship with God is more important to me than anything. I felt more like Johnesha on the spot than I did the minister I was called to be. I was very busy in the ministry, however, busyness is not always productive from God's perspective. I was frustrated with trying to be who I wasn't while not being who I really was. A sabbatical allowed me to focus solely on God and what he required of me. I have gone through a transformation that has restored my passion and excitement and re-equipped me for the long-haul. I was blessed by your blog. Thank you.