Melissa Small supports her husband, Rusty, in his ministry as a pastor at Liberty Baptist Church while raising her 2 boys, James and Thomas. She also serves as the women’s ministry leader and on the worship team at her church. She has a passion for women growing deeper in their knowledge of God’s Word and fostering a supportive Christian community among women. A doctorate in Education and Christian Leadership aids in accomplishing these goals through teaching, mentoring, and Bible study.
If I were making recommendations to my younger self on helpful insights for a smoother, more Spirit-led ministry, I would include the following areas. Incorporating these over the past two decades of ministry have allowed me to progressively attain greater peace and focus on the true purpose behind the ministry before me, rather than getting lost in the details it takes to complete the tasks involved.
- Be real and vulnerable. Regardless of the perception that others may find you invincible or less human due to your leadership role, if you remain too robotic, others will often fail to recognize when you reach your own limitations and need help. Open up about limitations, needs, and life situations within reason. Allow your team to pray for you and stand in the gap for you. Even Jesus, the Messiah showed this example when He took on flesh and felt the limitations of His own humanity, especially when he was pressed to complete His greatest calling and task, requiring great sacrifice on His part.
He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:37-39
- Burnout is a real thing! Accept help and delegate. If we do too much of the task ourselves, we do not allow others to take part in their place in God’s calling or participate in the work He is doing. We also can come to a place of apathy and lose the drive to continue. Moses and the church in Acts both developed hierarchies and incorporated delegation so that greater needs could be met at large without burning out one single leader who would be incapable of meeting every need.
Moses’ father-in-law said, “This is no way to go about it. You will burn out, and the people right along with you. This is way too much for you, you cannot do this alone. Now listen to me. Let me tell you how to do this so that God will be in this with you. Be there for the people before God but let the matters of concern be presented to God. Your job is to teach them the rules and instructions, to show them how to live, what to do. And then you need to keep a sharp eye out for competent men—men who fear God, men of integrity, men who are incorruptible—and appoint them as leaders over groups organized by the thousand, by the hundred, by fifty, and by ten. They will be responsible for the everyday work of judging among the people. They will bring the hard cases to you, but in the routine cases they will be the judges. They will share your load and that will make it easier for you. If you handle the work this way, you will have the strength to carry out whatever God commands you, and the people in their settings will flourish also.”
Exodus 18: 17-23
- You need to have space to let the air out of the balloon. Have a safe person and space to work through things that need to be filtered with a sounding board for outside input. We can only see one side of the situation and we can have a lot invested in what we pour ourselves into, causing blindness to the full picture. New eyes and ears can shed a different and helpful light on a matter and bring clarity and release pent up emotions.
Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
- Identify your own level of stress, needs along the way. Do not leave God out of it or you could find yourself moving towards apathy. Spend time with God to refuel and stay focused – details and personalities can bring overload and anxiety. Do not give the devil a foothold by having a higher view of yourself because of your God-given position or accomplishments. Give him your anxiety because we all have it when the pressure is great enough. Otherwise, the devil will be right there waiting to take you down.
1 Peter 5:6-8 says,” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Reflection: Take the time to ask yourself in which of these areas He may be guiding you to grow so that He can further His work through you and those who serve alongside you. Ask God to help you take practical steps to incorporate fresh practices in ministry to bring greater joy and energy into the work He has called you to complete in faithfulness.
