Your heart has layers and layers of calluses.”

This is what I sensed God saying to me after I brought my complaints to Him in the fall of 2020. For six months, I had led my church through the uncharted waters of a pandemic. Watching daily news updates about COVID-19, holding hospital parking lot prayer meetings, and preaching online sermons from a pulpit in my living room had become my new normal.

I had preached the sermons of several dear church members, but there had been little time for me to grieve. Through it all, I was frantically trying to hold our congregation together. I had been putting on a brave face, but I felt like I had been swept over Niagara Falls in a barrel, unable to tell which end was up.

The most disorienting part of all was realizing I had let my fire for God go out. Even as I sought to minister to others, I was in desperate need of personal revival.

Has this ever happened to you? Prayerlessness, indifference, numbness, cynicism, lingering doubt, and a loss of passion can be signs of an inner issue that requires attention.

Jesus Above All Else

The apostle Paul was the picture of ministry zeal. He worked tirelessly to preach the gospel and advance the Kingdom. Yet he experienced challenges just as we do.

In Philippians 3:4–14, Paul reveals the secret to success through all the ups and downs of life and ministry: knowing Christ (verse 8).

Paul’s primary concern wasn’t his resume, his career trajectory, his ministry to-do list, or even his personal troubles (after all, he was writing from prison). For Paul, the main thing wasn’t meeting people’s expectations, overcoming budgetary constraints, or spinning countless ministry plates. It was knowing Christ. That became his focal point and goal, and it needs to be ours as well (verses 12–14).

Knowing Jesus means loving Him and experiencing His love in return. It is making Christ our dwelling place from the time we open our eyes at daybreak until we lay our heads on our pillows at night. It is abiding in Christ.

We must never let the urgency of ministry demands replace the one thing that matters most: knowing Jesus.

John 15:1–17 illustrates the importance of this. Jesus compared believers to branches growing from a vine, which represents Christ. Any branch that fails to remain in the vine becomes fruitless and lifeless. The verb translated “remain,” or “abide” (ESV), appears 11 times in this passage. To remain is to stay in relationship with Christ and live daily in His presence. “Apart from me,” Jesus said, “you can do nothing” (verse 5).

When our life and ministry become something other than knowing Jesus, we need personal revival. It is then that we need to refocus on Jesus and rekindle our passion for Him. When we do, we’ll lead by example and point others toward a living, growing relationship with Jesus (Philippians 3:17).

Staying focused on Jesus above all else is the key to fruitful ministry. Knowing Jesus is infinitely more important than anything we can do for Him. Jesus is revival!

Rekindling the Fire

It’s essential for church leaders to perform periodic spiritual heart checks to ensure that knowing Jesus has not been diminished or replaced by unhealthy ministry practices. And if it has, we must allow the Lord to bring needed course correction. Here are four questions for reflection:

1. How can I ensure that my relationship with Christ takes priority over all else? Martin Luther was famously quoted as saying, “I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” While the amount of time one spends in prayer is an individual conviction, Luther makes the point that our time with Jesus must come first. After all, ministry to others flows out of our relationship with Him.

This requires us to guard our devotional time with Jesus as a valuable treasure. We must never let the urgency of ministry demands replace the one thing that matters most: knowing Jesus. If we do, our fire will dim.

2. How can I maintain my passion for Jesus amid the challenges of ministry? Sometimes it seems that before we can catch our breath from one ministry trial, we are facing another one. After a while, it can begin to feel like we have bruises on top of bruises.

In addition to our own problems, we carry the burdens of those under our care. If we fail to cast all our anxiety on the Lord, our passion for Him will suffocate under the heavy load.

As you kneel daily at the feet of Jesus, ask yourself these questions: What ministry problems am I still carrying? What burdens of others have I not cast upon the Lord? Then picture yourself walking up to the throne of Jesus, burdens in hand, and releasing everything to Him. Say, “Jesus, these burdens are Yours.”

3. How can I draw closer to Jesus even as I walk through pain in ministry? Surrendering our ministry pain to Jesus as soon as we experience it is crucial. If we don’t, we’ll build a memorial to that traumatic event, pitch a tent at its base, camp out, and remain stuck. In addition, we may make decisions from a place of woundedness. This can include assuming a defensive posture that causes our hearts to harden toward God and others.

Therefore, immediately after a painful incident occurs, go to God in prayer. Bring Him your hurt, questions, loss and disappointment. Be honest with Him about what you’re feeling. Then ask your loving Heavenly Father to reach out His healing hand and close the wound in your heart, soften the scar tissue, and tear down the walls. Lastly, ask Him to use the painful event to make you more like Jesus.

 God’s undeniable, active presence in our lives, His awesome nature, and His marvelous glory should inspire wonder, reverence, amazement and worship. When we lose that sense of awe and wonder and start treating God and His ways as ordinary, we are no longer living with the childlike faith Jesus wants us to have (Matthew 18:3–4).

My beautiful granddaughters, ages 6 to 4, constantly remind me what this looks like. They view with wonder many of the things that seem mundane to me. Helping me get the mail, complete simple household chores, or bake absolutely thrills them. Seeing life through their eyes reminds me of how I should relate to God.

To recapture the awe of God, intentionally approach your relationship with Him with childlike faith and enthusiasm once again.

There is no time to waste in getting back to what matters most. In a world that needs to know Jesus, there is an urgency to stay sharp, keen and boiling hot for God. The harvest of souls and the salvation of nations depend upon it. The ability to hear direction from God in these turbulent times depends upon it.