Clergy Keep Calm and Stay Healthy

We all need to hear words of support and encouragement from time to time. Whether

there is a global pandemic, tragedy, or illness plaguing your friend, remind them that

you are always there for them. Words have a lot of power, and you can choose yours

wisely. 

Well, to be honest, that is a difficult question to answer. There are no perfect solutions

or preventions to stress or burnout or the other causes that lead people to leave the

ministry. There are just too many things to factor.

How does a pastor keep spiritually and emotionally healthy while living, worshiping, and

leading in an unhealthy environment? Exercise vigorously 3-4 times a week. Walk,

swim, play tennis. . Drink water, at least two to four cups (16-32 ounces) upon rising,

and similar amounts if you are going out for activities and exercise. Allow adequate

time for sleep. Adrenal arousal reduces our need for sleep – but this is a trap – we

ultimately pay the penalty. Most adults probably need 8-9 hours a night.

I have pastored in two church turnaround situations – two of which worked, one that did

not. Turning an unhealthy church around is one of the hardest tasks any pastor will ever

be called to do.

Do not stay in fix-it mode, responding to every need, crisis and emergency that arises.

Yes, those must be responded to, especially in a turnaround situation. But if that is all

you are doing – or even the main thing you are doing – the church and you will suffer for

it.

When we stay in reactive mode, the squeaky wheels are in control. Not us. Not Jesus. A

pastor who wants to stay healthy while bringing a church into health needs a plan.

Something designed to replace the current toxic environment.

It is not enough to drain the well. We need to replace it with something of value. For the

pastors’ mental and emotional health because there are fewer things that will draw us

into an unhealthy church’s drama than constantly living in reaction to that drama.

Too many pastors are trying to do it alone. That is hard to do in a healthy church. In an

unhealthy one, it can kill you. Find a mentor or coach. Either someone who does that

as their ministerial calling, or a pastoral friend who will step up for you.

If you live in a rural area with few options, pick up the phone and call some of your old

seminary professors, your denominational officials, or a former pastor of yours, not of

the church you are serving. It may take a few calls to find the right fit, but do not give up

until you find someone. “Do not take life too seriously, you will never get out of it alive!

What matters is that you have a mature minister who can listen to you, pray with you,

and offer Godly wisdom – not just about the church, but about your own emotional and

spiritual health.

The Bible is more than a collection of sermon texts. Prayer is more than petitions we

make on behalf of others. The spiritual disciplines must be lived and strengthened within

our own lives before we can teach them to others.

Do not neglect your own spiritual nourishment. Everyone has a unique set of

temptations and triggers. Do not ignore them or beat yourself up for them. Acknowledge

them and protect yourself against them. Take a personal audit. Reassess your goals;

like your clothes, change them sometimes. Improve your self-attitudes. Learn a healthy

assertiveness. Know your gifts, and your limits. Face your fears; do not avoid them by

pretense or bury them in an addiction. Be a growing person: if God has yet more light

and truth to break forth from his Word, what new understandings have you experienced

recently? Exercise is also important to any program for health. We need to exercise

spiritually as well as physically. Spiritual exercise includes regular church attendance,

prayer time, fellowship with other believers and quality time in the Word of God

It is a workday. So, take Sabbath on another day. Mine is Monday. Every pastor needs

a regular down time. Jesus said, ‘Come apart and rest awhile. And get plenty of sleep

and exercise, too. Discouragements and temptations thrive in the petri dish of

exhaustion and physical ill-health. Jesus said, ‘Come apart and rest awhile’. If you do

not rest awhile, you will soon come apart.

It is Jesus’ role to save people and build his church. The pastor’s calling is to equip the

saints to do the work of ministry. Never confuse the two.

Trust In God

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. [NIV}

Introduction

         The fact that Jesus admonishes us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” indicates that certain things we go through will indeed cause us trouble (worry, fear, doubt). Challenges we face can prompt this type of response within our hearts – our soul (mind, imagination, intellect, will, and emotions).

         Death is one of those challenges. Death attacks our hearts when we come to the Funeral Home chapel or the local Church to say farewell to a loved one. Dear causes us to worry about whether our loved ones will see Jesus; Death forces us to fear whether we will have adequate resources to cover our expenses; Death causes us to doubt whether we can make it through this challenge.

         Jesus knows that death will attack us, especially in times like these. And Jesus does not shy away from the reality of death’s grip on our souls. Indeed, Jesus knows, and Jesus understands that death has invaded our mind, imagination, intellect, will, and emotions. Indeed, Jesus knows that every facet of our beings has been impacted by death. Yet, despite this knowledge, Jesus says, “You can control to what degree you will allow death to be successful in its attack.” Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

         Jesus is speaking to his disciples about his impending death. Jesus is trying to prepare his disciples for his departure from their lives; he lets them know that they will no longer have his physical presence.

         Jesus knows that when he is killed, hung on the cross by the Roman Empire like a common thief, and death will challenge his disciples to become enthralled with grief, despair, and hopelessness. Jesus says, “Do not let your heart be troubled.” This word, “let,” means “to allow; to give in to; to surrender.” In other words, Jesus places the response to his death totally in the hands of his disciples.   

         Jesus says to them they can respond with faith rather than be overwhelmed by this calamity. Jesus says you do not have to give in to trouble, not even trouble of the spirit and soul. Jesus says you have the power to respond with the knowledge that God is still in control.

         Jesus says to them, “Trust in God.” Trust means “to confide in; rely upon; surrender to.” Jesus says to them surrender this situation to God. Let Go and Let God. There is a secret in offering your troubles, your challenges to God. Jesus says confide in God – place all your worries, doubts, and fears at the feet of God. Psalms 34:19 declares, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all.” Jesus says, tell yourself this too shall pass; God will deliver me, so I will trust him and praise his Holy Name.

· When you’re down, trust God.

· When you’re afraid, trust God.

· When doubt fills your heart, trust God.

· When you don’t think you’re going to make it through, trust God.

· Trust God – confide in, rely on, and surrender this situation to God. Hallelujah!

         Not only that, but Jesus says, “Trust also in me.” Jesus tells them to “rely upon” what he has told them. Jesus, you see, has proven that he is trustworthy. Every word that Jesus spoke, the Lord God has upheld. Jesus has proven that he can do exceedingly abundantly above everything they could ever ask or think. Jesus has proven that he can raise the dead; He rose the widow of Nain’s son; He rose Lazarus, His friend from the grave after he’d been dead four days; He raised Jairus’s daughter; so Jesus had power over death.  

         Jesus said, “also trust in me.” Just as God can be trusted, certainly his only begotten son can be trusted. Lord, have mercy! Jesus said, “Confide in me.” The hymn writer wrote, “I must tell Jesus all of my troubles; I can not bear these burdens alone. I must tell Jesus; I must tell Jesus, Jesus can help me Jesus alone.” Jesus is our helper in times of trouble; he is the bishop and shepherd of our souls. Jesus can and will help; he’ll help each of you right now regardless of the situation you may be facing. Can I get a witness?

         Beloved, even now as tears run down your cheeks, you can trust God, and you can trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has overcome death, hell, and the grave! Facing his fears, and stood his test. He suffered, bled, and died on Calvary’s Cross. He hung his head in the locks of his shoulders and died. He hung there from the sixth to the ninth hour; He hung there until the Sun refused to shine and the moon dripped in blood; He hung there until the dead got up and walked the earth, and the centurion looked at him and said, “Truly, this must be the Son of God.”

         Jesus rose with all power in his hands, and one of these days – it won’t be very long. You will hear the trumpet sound; you will see the dead in Christ rise first; you will see those of us who remain to rise with them to meet the Lord in the earth.” Lord, have mercy!

         Not only that, but someone will begin to shout, O death, where is thy sting; O grave where is thy victory.” Because Jesus Christ can be trusted; Because God can be trusted. My friends, you don’t have to worry; you don’t have to fret; you don’t have to doubt God and his Word. I urge you this morning to let go and let God – he will, I said, he will give you joy in your sorrow. He will provide you with beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  

         He will restore your joy to such a degree that men will call you “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” In other words, the world will talk about how good your God has been. When they see you rebound after this tragedy with your joy, peace, and swagger, then men and women will declare just how good God is. Can I get a witness?  

         “Do not let your heart be troubled” because you serve a God who sits high and looks low. You serve a God who promised never to leave you, never to leave you alone. Hallelujah! You serve a God who will lead you through this valley of the shadow of death. You do a God who will ensure goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life. Lord, have understanding!

         You serve a God who is right there by your side, and so this morning, let go and let God. The0 pm fact of the matter is you can depend on God- trust Him. Hallelujah!

Daniel 3:1-30
Firey Faith
Intro: Fire safety technique taught to children, emergency services personnel, and industrial workers as a component of health and safety training.
Primarily, it is a method to extinguish a fire on a person’s clothes or hair without, or in addition to, the use of conventional firefighting equipment.
In addition to extinguishing the fire, stop, drop, and roll is an effective psychological tool, providing those in a fire situation, particularly children, with a routine that can be focused on to avoid panic.

· Stand Still- The fire victim must stop still. Ceasing any movement which may fan the flames or hamper those attempting to put the fire out.
· Knell Down – The fire victim must drop to the ground, lying down if possible, covering their face with their hands to avoid facial injury.
· Hold On – The fire victim must roll on the ground to extinguish the fire by depriving it oxygen. If the victim is on a rug or nearby, they can roll the rug around themselves to further extinguish the flame.
Most folk would agree that this is a technique everyone should know if you ever find yourself in a blazing situation. I want you to know that this technique will also work when we find ourselves engulfed by the fires of life. Stop, Drop, And Roll. I want to show you the steps Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego took to conquer their fire. The same steps will work for us.
I. V. 1-12 tells us how to STAND Nowhere does the Bible guarantee the saint of God freed from the fires and storms of life. On the contrary, the Bible is filled with references to the fact that storms will come and that they will be part and parcel of the life of every believer.
· “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 KJV)
· “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1 KJV)
· “For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 2:23 KJV)
Fire Touches The Serving Ones – Some people feel that being a servant of God should guarantee them freedom from troubles. Once, I heard a woman say the following words when she was enduring a time of immense stress and difficulty, “Why is this happening to me? I have tried to do everything the Lord wants me to do!” What she failed to understand is that the Lord does not promise us freedom from trouble. It can and will touch all of us!
Just ask the Apostle Paul. He labored for the Lord while fighting a thorn in the flesh. A thorn, by the way, that God refused to remove, Serving God does not eliminate the possibility of suffering and sacrifice. It practically guarantees it.
Not only does the fire touch the saved ones, but the servings it also Touches The Separated Ones – Some feel that a clean life is a hedge against trouble. If I can be good enough, then nothing terrible will happen! If something terrible does happen, then it must be that there is a sin in my life.
Consider Job. He suffered like few other men ever have, yet God’s testimony about his life was that he was a man of God, Job 1:1, 5, 8. Clean energy does not mean a protected life. Sometimes, God will take the holiest, the purest, and the best He has and put them in the fire. Not so that He can watch them squirm, suffer and burn, but so that He can use them for His glory to prove that He is still God!
The more we know about the fire, the better off we are! When we realize that God doesn’t send us there to destroy us but to develop us, it can change our entire outlook where the fire is concerned. When you also stop to consider the fact that God will sometimes take the very cream of the crop, the best of the best, and send them into the fire, it can change our whole perspective concerning the fire.
These men committed the fire to the Lord. When they faced the fire, they knew they were insufficient within their own power. They committed the fire to the power of the Lord and trusted Him to take them through. When we face our own fires, we, too, should commit them to the Lord. There is some very basic help to be found in how these men committed themselves to the fire and to the Lord. What they did helped them to commit the fire to the Lord and to trust Him to do right by them. Let’s learn from their example.
Remember Your Connection To God – Take special notice of the words “our God.” Notice how Nebuchadnezzar spoke of God in verse 15. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that they were in a special relationship with the sovereign God of the universe. These men were the sons of God by faith, and that is a good relationship to be in when the fire comes near your life.
The same is true for us. We need to remember that we are not spiritual bums wandering through this world. We are the children of God, 1 John 3:1-3! Our God is the Creator! God is our Father, and it is his “good pleasure” to give us the kingdom. Luke 12:32. Our Father is all-powerful. Our Father owns it all and is perfectly capable of aiding us in our time of crisis!
Remember The Control Of God – Two words used by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego make all the difference. Those words are “is able.” These are the words of faith!
These men were not stupid! They knew the fire was hot. They knew the fire was able to destroy them. They knew that there was no escape, at least from a human standpoint. As they faced the fire, they knew what it could do to them. Yet, as they faced the fire, they were also able to “faith” the fire! They knew that even if they were thrown into the fire, their Heavenly Father had the necessary power to bring them through.
God hasn’t changed! He is still “able” to do anything that needs to be done in your life or mine! He is still God, and He is still able Eph. 3:20! Even if you go into the fire, God is still in control. He has His hand on the thermostat, His eye on the thermometer, and He is in control of the situation. In fact, when the fire does come into your life, it had to pass through the filter of God’s perfect plan for you before it ever came your way. Remember, when the fire is raging in your life, Romans 8:28 still says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Remember Your Commitment To God – Back in Daniel 1:8-21, when these men were younger and new to Babylon, they took a stand for God and committed themselves to live for Him and for Him alone. This is a commitment that they took seriously. Here they are faced with their own deaths, and still, they are determined to serve the Lord. They stood in the day of testing!
When the fire comes to your life and mine, it will often be accompanied by the temptation to quit on God, to give up. However, God has promised us help for our times of testing and trials. When you are tempted to quit, remember three truths, if you will.
· God will not abandon you in your trial –
· Jesus Christ walked a much harder path than the one you face. He didn’t quit, and He is able to help you make it through as well.
· “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)
The fires of life prove the reality of our testimony. It is easy to make vows to God when you get saved, and it looks like everything will be smooth sailing. When the tough times come, and they will, that is when you get to honor the commitments you have made to the Lord. By the way, He expects you to keep your promises to Him!
When life heats up, we must remember that we are His and that He has committed Himself to our care. So, when the fire comes, and it will stop and consider it in light of Who God is. Drop before the Lord and commit the fire to the Lord. Trust Him to give you what you need in the hour of your need.
KNEEL DOWN
These men stopped and considered the fire. They dropped the fire into the hand of God and committed to Him. Then they literally rolled right into the fire. When they did, they encountered just what they needed, not to extinguish the flames but to get them through the fire.
Conquer It Through God’s Presence – Remember that when you face the fires of life, you will never face them alone! The Lord showed upright in the middle of their fire. He did the same thing for the disciples when they were in the storm, Matt. 14. He showed up in Daniel’s lion den, Dan. 6. He will be there with you too!
Here is His promise:
· “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10 KJV)
· “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (Isaiah 43:2 KJV)
Not only through God’s presence but Conquer It Through God’s Preservation – Remember that God did not save you to lose you to a fiery trial. He will meet you in the blaze, and He will strengthen you on the day of trial. He saved you from taking you through the fires and on home to glory.
· “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” (2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV)
Not only does God conquer through presence. Preservation, Conquer It Through God’s Power – Again, we are reminded that the God we serve is all-powerful and is able to take care of His children. It doesn’t matter what you may be facing today, and God is bigger than it is!
God is able to take care of you and me.
By the way, God is still doing the very same thing! By letting Us go through the fire while sustaining us and even bring us out in such a way that God gets all the glory and honor. God may be using the fire in our life to spread the gospel message. Our life could be as a canvas upon which God is painting what true Christianity is all about. We never know who is watching, and we never know why the Lord sends. May the Lord help us to handle the fires of life in a way that God gets all the honors!
Not only does God conquer through presence. preservation, Through
Power – but lastly, God’s Conquer Through Promotion – One of God’s primary reasons in sending us through the fire is to purify us, to develop us, and to promote us. The truth of the matter is that you probably won’t be much use to the Lord until you go through some fires in your life. The fire has the remarkable ability to burn off impurities and to cleanse the object committed to its power. When God meets you, He is about to mold you into a vessel He can use for His glory!
· Remember Simon Peter? He wasn’t much use until the Lord melted him and burned off some pride and some of his strong-willed nature. God melted him and molded him, and fashioned him into a vessel of great honor and power.
· Remember Jacob? His name means “heel-catcher, trickster,” and he lived up to it every day! However, one night, he met God by a river, and the Lord melted Jacob that night. God renamed him “Israel,” which means “a prince with God.” After he faced that fire, he was helpful to the Lord!
· Remember Joseph? Even someone as pure as Joseph was melted in the fire before he was promoted to the glory of God.

· “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” (Psalms 55:22 KJV)
· “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 KJV)