Ministry is a marathon.
There often isn’t instant gratification (Hebrews 12:1-3). Ministry is made up of daily choices to move you in the direction God is leading you.
My mentor told me that ministry can be characterized as a “long obedience in the right direction.”
With that reality, ministers can easily become fatigued. They burn out. They often feel a lack of accomplishment, which can lead to disillusionment.
Ministry can be characterized as a “long obedience in the right direction.”
What is the solution to this problem?
Celebration!
In ministry, we must regularly celebrate the wins that we see.
These are often little things that God is doing that could go unnoticed unless you’re looking for them. In the old days, we would call this “testimony.” It doesn’t have to be a huge thing. Simply observe where God is at work and celebrate what He is doing.
Here are 3 ways you can celebrate the wins in your ministry to men.
1. Ask, “Where do we see God working?” This question will lead you to observe what God is doing in your midst. Regularly ask and answer that question, and be amazed when you see Him at work. Often, He is at work in the little things: obedience, a changed perspective, a good decision, a small blessing, etc. Sometimes, He does big things: miracle provision, divine appointments, healing, etc. However, don’t let your focus be on the big or little things; let your focus be on God at work, whatever that looks like. Where do we see Him moving? Asking this regularly in your team meetings will get your focus off the grind and onto God.
2. Celebrate the invitations! We understand that our goal in ministry is to “make disciples who make disciples” (Matthew 28:18-20), but a big part of that has to do with the invitation: one person inviting another person to your event or ministry. The win is not in a person accepting the invite; the win is simply in the invite. I’m always amazed when I say, “Let’s pray for God to lay someone on our heart to invite…” He always does! God is always thinking about those who are not in the room. When we are obedient to invite the person He has laid on our hearts, we have done our part. God will do the rest. Let’s celebrate people’s invitations and allow God to do the work.
3. Track with the people in your ministry. I keep a spreadsheet of everyone in my ministry and track them. I track their attendance. I track their prayer needs. I track their ministry involvement. I track their learning. I track their milestone events (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.). This gives me the chance to journey with people and become a cheerleader for them and also an encourager. If I see someone pulling away from the ministry, I can go and ask them how I can pray for them. If I see someone taking steps to lean in a bit more, I can celebrate that. I can rejoice with them about their major life events, and I can mourn with them if they’ve lost someone or something. Ministry is people. This is why it’s so important to know your people and utilize a system to track with the people in your ministry.
Is anything too hard for the Lord (Jeremiah 32:17)? We need to remember and celebrate what He’s done in the past to remind ourselves of His power for the future. When we regularly celebrate our ministry wins, we will give God the praise He deserves, embrace what He has for us next, and have the energy to take us there.
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