Today we have a question from someone who is drained, a listener who is exhausted.

So how do we recharge without neglecting our souls?

Here's the question, Hello Pastor John, I'm 41 years old and have been a pastor for nine

years leading a small but growing church of 120 people in Wales.

As I have served as a pastor and a leader over this time, I've found that due to the spiritually,

emotionally and mentally draining nature of the work, whenever I have spare time and

evening off or a Saturday free, all I want to do is switch off and do trivial stuff,

like watch sports.

I feel like I should be doing more personal reading or devotional God pursuing stuff, but

I can't find the energy or the desire.

Ministry is hard work.

So when I have opportunity, I want to escape from things connected to it.

How do you handle this tension between ministry as part of your work that you give your time

and attention to for much of the day and then the need to have energy to pursue God personally

outside of your formal ministry activities?

Have you felt this tension and do you have any advice for a young and already tired

pastor?

Yes, I have felt that tension, a doubt that you or I will ever escape it.

As I've tried to examine and study my own heart in regard to its inclinations when I'm tired,

I am fairly suspicious of how self-justifying I can be in the defense of my inclination

to compromise my mind and my conscience and what I do with my so-called downturn.

I say that just to waive a yellow flag, lest we assume that weariness after the Lord's

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