What Sustains Your Ministry When Hard Times Hit?
What sustains your ministry when hard times hit? Because let’s be honest… ministry is hard! Burnout is real and happens often. And we have to remember what is true and real to be strengthened during difficult seasons of ministry.
One of my favorite calling stories is in Isaiah 6, the story of Isaiah’s vision and prophetic call. Isaiah lived in the 8th century BC in Judah, the southern kingdom. His ministry spans approximately 40 years, starting around 740 BC, “in the year King Uzziah died” and extending through the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. According to the Talmud, Isaiah is a cousin to Uzziah and compiled a summary of his life and reign (2 Chron. 26:22). Isaiah’s life would have been one of moderate power, prestige, and access.
Yet we also find that he is a spiritual man. At a time when most people are paying lip service to God but worshiping other deities as well, we find Isaiah in the Temple praying as chapter 6 begins. In the midst of his prayer, he sees a vision of God’s throne room. He catches glimpses of grandeur, sees the seraphim and listens to their song, and is overcome by the majesty of God. This encounter becomes a life changing moment as Isaiah is overcome by his own guilt and shame: “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (6:5). But God creates a way for him to be in his presence, cleansing him from his guilt and sin through a live coal touched to his lips, atoning for his sin.
And it was that moment that inspires Isaiah to volunteer for God’s service: “Here I am! Send me!” What beautiful words! But did Isaiah know what he was getting himself into? Absolutely not! Because (in summary) God tells him, “Thank you! Your ministry will be unproductive and wildly unsuccessful… And it will be that way until everything lies in ruins.” Your ministry will be fruitless and fall upon unhearing ears and uncaring people; your words won’t make any difference to your audience.
My question for you today is… Would you still volunteer?
We have a joke in the Navy—that “Navy” actually stands for Never Again Volunteer Yourself. As officers, we take an oath that “I undertake this obligation freely and without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” But when we are honest, we have a LOT of reservations and questions! But we are still agreeing to the work anyway.
Isaiah is called to a ministry that will seemingly lack meaning and struggle to find any success—and God says it won’t make any difference. But God doesn’t call Isaiah to success; he calls him to faithfulness. Success is typically measured in terms of results: growing the bottom line, reaching more consumers, extending your mission or getting people to buy into your product or services. Often ministerial success is gauged by numbers: attendance, giving, online viewership, number of baptisms, etc.
But God tells Isaiah, “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.” In other words: No one will listen; and those who might won’t comprehend. In fact, your message will be what makes the people turn away because they don’t want to hear it. But I’m not calling you to success; I’m calling you to faithfulness. Success in God’s eyes comes down to sticking with the mission.
So what gave Isaiah the ability to stick with this calling even in the midst of the hard times? I think it comes down to two things:
Memory of his encounter with God, and
The presence of God throughout it all.
Throughout the rest of the book of Isaiah, Isaiah’s favorite description of God is “the Holy One (of Israel).” He uses the phrase 12 times in chapters 1-39 and 13 times in chapters 40-66; this title is only 31 times in the entire Bible, and 25 are in Isaiah! Isaiah’s understanding of God is one who is holy and also one who makes sinful people clean. Isaiah’s encounter with God has changed his entire understanding of faith, worship, and relationship. And this continues to shape his ministry during difficult times.
Second, Isaiah knows that God is with him in the midst of his ministry. It empowers him to speak truth and share his message even with pushback. He writes in chapter 43,
1 But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
These aren’t idle lessons for him; he has learned them intimately through the difficulties of ministry and seeing how God has shown up on his behalf. This is what God does for his people and for his ministers.
