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Family Needs Versus Ministry Demands

As committed as you are to your church, you are not indispensable there. God can lead you to another church . . . and some day He will. But you cannot get another family . . . and they cannot get another you.

Your family members are the people who love you and need you the most—I mean that in a healthy way. Your wife and children want to be with you. They want as much time as possible to enjoy you. If you’re an empty-nester, even your grown children still need you. So do those grandkids. Mine do too. They don’t want to lose us just because we are engaged in ministry.

If your ministry enlarges and begins to include other orbits (as mine has)—perhaps a radio ministry, a broader speaking ministry, a music ministry, or a publishing ministry—keep in mind that all those things have voracious appetites.

Just as Sunday comes every week (even during holidays) and you have to stand and deliver whether you’re ready or not, so also your other commitments can suck the life out of you. Every publisher wants the next book, every blog or podcast audience wants the next post. My wife, Cynthia, reminds me often, “Radio never takes a holiday.” Those trains keep on moving, and they are hard to stop.

Now, I’m not saying don’t ever write or speak elsewhere or expand your ministry. I’m saying to think first and evaluate if it’s really God who is leading you.

Needs will always outrun your energy. Even Jesus didn’t heal everybody. He purposely limited His ministry (Mark 1:35–38). The Judgment Seat of Christ will be about quality, not quantity (1 Corinthians 3:13). Think before you add to your plate.

Practice saying, “No.”