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Are you downhearted? We call it *depressed* now, but it's the same thing.
I recently spoke with a pastor who was wallowing in discouragement. He
admitted that he simply sat around watching TV and feeling sorry for myself
most of the time. He had been treated pretty roughly at his church over
the last two years. And, even though the people who hurt him most had already
left his church he just couldn't get back into gear again. He said, *I
feel like I'm trudging through deep muck--every step takes a big effort.
He then admitted that in the office he tended to tinker around doing meaningless
chores, passing time away until he could go home again. He was preaching
old sermons every week and just didn't have the drive to dig out new ones.
Ever feel this way? I have. What should you do when ministerial discouragement
sets in. I asked a two older ministers and two psychology professors what
advice they'd give. Here is a summary of that advice plus my own, for the
ministerial blues.
Do something. Start moving. Begin a new habit. Take a walk at the end
of each day. Start playing racquetball, start jogging, start chopping wood,
start anything... just begin some new regular habit. A minister seldom
escapes periods of lethargy instantaneously. Usually you climb out of the
pit one rung at a time, often precipitated by starting one new habit at
a time...not always spiritual ones.
The most serious impact of ministerial discouragement is an inordinate
preoccupation with your own situation. The worse you feel, the more you
think about how badly you feel. Try to find some way to meaningfully get
involved with the lives of others. This may seem preposterous advice for
a minister, who does this for a living, but in times of discouragement
we can wind up ministering professionally but not personally. If you can
find an opportunity to minister personally to one or several people—and
they grow as a result of it, you may discover your feelings of depression
vanishing gradually.
Ministerial discouragement sometimes springs from the soil of injustice.
You have been hurt unjustly. People have been unkind, unChristlike, sinful,
carnal, bitter, angry, or unfair to you. The route to release from this
painful past lies through the grace of forgiveness. This is greatest power
you have. The only way to find release from this pain is to say, "I
forgive them." You don't feel like it. But forgiveness is not a feeling...it
is a choice. If you can make this choice, you may find new freedom and
release, and maybe even a fresh burst of energy.
You're probably not going to leap out of this pit overnight. But by
setting some simple goals, which you know you can achieve, you might bring
back the sense of forward movement again. Maybe set a goal to take a one-mile
walk once a week during this month. Or to read one book. Set some goals
which you can start achieving, make a chart to check off, and do it. Your
success at accomplishing these things will breed more success.
Your tendency will be to keep this discouragement to yourself. After
all, ministers aren't supposed to be depressed. So you cheerfully welcome
people to the services when you feel only gloom inside. You probably feel
like a hypocrite. You need someone to talk with. Find someone you know
will respect your confidentiality, and make yourself accountable. You need
a contact who will lovingly and gently—yet firmly—lead you out of the pits.
David experienced similar times of discouragement and depression. There
are a number of gloomy Psalms which are ideal for this time in your life.
Perhaps it is better to steer clear of the jubilant Psalms, as if you can
sing the blues away. Instead, read through all of Psalms and find the ones
which especially reflect how you really feel. Then, keep going back to
the same ones, reading them—even memorizing them—and quoting them to the
Lord. Just watch... this will reestablish communication with God so that
the dryness resulting from discouragement will begin to disappear. At age
33 I experienced almost two years of ministerial discouragement. The psalms
I came to own then were 77, 13, 28, and 42.
This discouragement will be in your past some day. Take heart,
it will! Perhaps it's trite, and of little help to you now, but it is true:
this too will pass. It may take several months, it may take another year—but
one of these days you'll be on top of things again. Most ministers walk
through this slough of despond sooner or later. In fact, this seems to
be one of the common threads running through all the great Christian's
lives. Just keep slogging forward, the hill ahead has a wonderful view!
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