Day One: Yes and No

When I get lots of invitations to speak or train at events, I love it! The trouble comes when I say yes to too many things and wind up overworked and overwhelmed.

People in ministry know the pressures of having too many good and appealing opportunities at once. The needs of others are vast and endless, and the pressure to say yes is all too real. It is easy to slide into doing too many things or doing things we aren’t called to do. This is often the starting place of burnout.

I love how Jesus handled the pressure to continue a successful healing and deliverance ministry in today’s passage in Mark. He had been up late the previous evening at Simon’s house, where the whole town had come to experience Jesus’ ministry and power to heal and deliver. If I had been Jesus, I’d be excited to continue the next day! I’d just assume that would be the obvious next step. But Jesus gets up before it’s light and goes to a lonely place to pray. When the disciples come and find him, they have the same assumption I had; “hey Jesus, last night was great! And good news. Everyone is waiting for you to continue your wonderful work, let’s go!” More precisely, the text says, “Everyone is looking for you.” Ah…I can feel the sense of pressure and expectation just hearing that! But Jesus says no. He says no to the expectations of the disciples and the vague, yet powerful “everyone” in the text.

Do you relate? Have you ever heard a message about what “everyone” expects you to do in ministry? How does Jesus have this clarity and courage? How is he so clear on his no? How is he so clear about his yes? “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came” (verse 38). I believe that Jesus’ time in prayer was where he found clarity and focus about what was HIS to do in the face of the pressure to do other good things. Taking time to pray, especially in the face of pressure to say yes to ministry opportunities is key in preventing burnout.

Grow your own practice of discerning in prayer what is YOURS to do. Ask God for courage to say yes and no.