Every pastor has a bad Sunday now and then. The sermon falls flat. Technical difficulties arise. An attempt at humor misses the mark.

No one is immune to it. Even the best ministers encounter difficult weeks. The answer is not to eliminate every slip-up, but simply to get through them, learn from them, and move on to the next week.

Some Mondays are harder than others. But you can make the most of a bad situation. Here are some ways to bounce back from your Sunday struggles.

1. Take a Break

Sometimes you just need to get away for a moment, relax and think about something else. Maybe it takes playing a round of golf or grabbing a cup of coffee and a good book. Whatever you do to relax, don’t skip it. Lean into it as a way to recover.

Developing a hobby can help you take a break from work. It can improve your overall health by decreasing stress. And it gives you an outlet when things get tough.

2. Find an Encourager

Paul had his Barnabas, the brother of encouragement (Acts 4:36). Every pastor needs someone on the team who offers reassurance, even when things go wrong. It’s critical to your emotional health to have an encouraging and supportive friend you can text, call or meet in person.

A failure can become a positive if it leads to improvement.

This isn’t about someone bending the truth to make you feel better. It’s about sharing the truth in love. An encourager will know what to say to guide you toward a more positive perspective.

3. Work on a Weakness

Balance the outside encouragement with a healthy dose of introspection and self-evaluation. After all, your bad Sunday may have happened because of a failure on your part. Consider ways to address whatever caused the problem.

This isn’t a time to beat yourself up. But a failure can become a positive if it leads to improvement.

4. Remember Your Good Sundays

Think back to the great Sundays you’ve had. It’s easy to let your bad days overshadow your good ones. However, focusing on the negatives doesn’t bring glory to God.

The truth is, even our best efforts are imperfect. Yet God works powerfully through human frailties (2 Corinthians 12:9). Spend some time with the Lord, asking Him to remind you of all He has done — and thanking Him for it.

This doesn’t mean pulling out a spreadsheet and looking at church attendance numbers. Instead, reflect on the testimonies of life transformation. God will direct your thoughts to those He has changed in an eternal way.

5. Focus on the Wins

It’s not all about you. Your bad Sunday may have been a time for huge wins in other areas. Gather your team, and ask for positive stories of life change. Find out how the other ministries went. Celebrate those testimonies instead of bogging down in whatever went wrong.

These five suggestions are just a few ways to keep past mistakes from affecting what God wants to do in the future. After every bad Sunday is a week that leads to a new Sunday. Leave the last one behind and focus on what’s coming up.