Have you ever thought that leading in ministry is too hard, maybe even an impossible task?  If so, keep reading.

One of my favorite stories in the gospel is when Jesus and his disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee during a furious squall (Mark. 4:35-41).  The storm was so ferocious that the disciples, many who had spent a good deal of time on the water making a living, were terrified.  They all thought that they were facing certain death.  So when the water started swamping their boat, by instinct they all grabbed a bucket and started bailing.  All but one of them was at work trying to save the ship.  Jesus was instead curiously asleep in the stern during this furious storm – resting peacefully on cushion no less!

What has always fascinated me about this story isn’t how Jesus could have been resting peacefully during a terrible storm, but rather how the disciples roused Jesus into action on their behalf.  They woke Jesus up by calling into question his love for them.  In Mark 4:38, they accuse, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

For those who are pastors and ministry leaders, our work can feel a whole lot like riding in a small boat during a furious squall only to have Jesus asleep in the stern.  When the storms of life come, we naturally jump into action like the disciples in order to save the ship.  When a couple faces divorce, we get busy helping to save their marriage.  When teenagers lose their way, we get busy helping them find their way again.  When our congregation becomes lackluster in their pursuit of Christ, we get busy preaching and teaching trying to get their attention on Jesus again.  When the finances are reading more red than black, we get busy raising the support needed to stay in ministry.  When our staff are in conflict, we get busy leading conversations toward reconciliation.  When relationships grow cold in our community, we get busy trying to create programs that connect people to one another again.  But if our efforts in bailing out people in ministry are not yielding the results we hoped for (couples split, teenagers leave the church, congregations don’t listen, finances dry up, staff fight with each other, friendships grow cold), we can easily find ourselves disgruntled against Jesus who appears to be asleep in our ministry.  And just like the disciples in the boat that day, we are just as prone to accuse Jesus, “Don’t you care that we are about to drown?”

But notice what Jesus did when the disciples woke him.  He rebuked the wind and the waves, and the sea became dead calm. Then he rebuked the disciples.  He censured them in 4:30, “Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?”  You see when the disciples saw the storm, they got busy working to counter their circumstances.  Instead, the first thing they should have done was come to Jesus with the problem they faced because Jesus’ work is always more important than our work.  Jesus wasn’t asleep on the boat because he didn’t care about them.  Jesus was asleep on the boat because his disciples didn’t yet need him.

If you are a leader in ministry, it is always tempting to bypass Jesus and get busy working to bail people out when the storms of life hit.  But listen to Jesus’ rebuke to his friends who started bailing before bowing to Jesus.  Your work is never as important as Jesus’ work.  Therefore, we need to lean on the Master in our Ministry.  Instead of rushing to work hard at bailing people out of their tough circumstances, we first need to come to Jesus and ask some spiritually forming questions that are informed by the truth that Jesus’ work is always more important than our work.  We need to ask Jesus:

• What are you doing in this moment in their/our lives?
• How is he getting the person’s/our attention?
• How is he making them/us fit for his kingdom through this storm?”
• What would you have me do in this storm?

Pastors and ministry leaders need to hear Jesus’s rebuke of the disciples loud and clear because if we don’t learn to lean on the Master in ministry, all our work bailing won’t amount to much.  Spiritual leaders need to know that the only power they have to serve is the power of Christ in them.  If we get busy bailing people out of their difficult circumstances before we lean on the Master Jesus in our ministry, we will be in danger of telling Jesus that we don’t need him.  Then, when our efforts don’t yield the results we hoped for, we will be in danger of accusing Jesus that he doesn’t care about us or those in our ministry when the truth of the matter is that we haven’t fully needed him in our ministry yet.

So when you face storms in your life and ministry, don’t grab a bucket to get busy bailing people out.  Instead, take your cares and concerns to Jesus.  Peter, one of the men on the boat that day, learned this lesson well.  In his first letter he encouraged people who were suffering to lean on the Master in their life and ministry because Jesus does indeed care for us.  He wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (NIV11).  So when the storms come (and they will), learn to lean on the Master in your ministry.  In this way not only will those in your ministry grow deeper in faith, but so will you.