The below excerpt is from my book The Renegade Pastor’s Guide to Managing the Stress of Ministry.

Often, the one thing that separates average pastors from Renegade Pastors is the way they use their time. Use your time the way a Renegade Pastor should, and one of the added benefits will be less stress in your life.

One reason that using time wisely decreases stress is that when you use time well, you have more of it. How much more released could you be if you had an extra thirty minutes in your day? Or even an additional hour? You could get more done, get home sooner, spend more time playing with your kids or talking to your spouse. You could pick up a hobby that refreshes your soul. All of this becomes possible when you use time more wisely.

A second, more essential reason why your stress level decreases when you spend time wisely is that is actually brings you closer to God. Time is the most important resource that God gives us. That means time management is, at its heart, a spiritual issue, a worship issue. Do you show God how much you appreciate His gift of the next moment? One of the best ways to express your appreciation is by getting the most out of every moment He gives you.

We know it can be difficult to change habits that you have developed over the years. If you’ve never kept a calendar before, it can be hard to start now. Building systems in your church is never easy. It might reveal to you certain people who are resistant to your leadership–people with whom you need to have tough conversations. It might stretch you in ways that you find very uncomfortable. Growth is never easy, and it might be hard to see the benefit, especially in the short term.

But Renegade Pastors are not in ministry for the short term! They know they are in a marathon, not a sprint. You can handle a season of challenges when your eyes are on the future you want to achieve. The goal of time management is not just to handle the well (although that is a very worthy goal). The goal is to be a more effective minister to Christ’s church. It is to be able to complete the ministry that God has graciously given us.

Stress robs us of the ability to complete a lifetime of effective ministry. And good time management is one tool God has given us to fight stress. Let’s use it as we seek to be the pastors God has called us to be!

– Nelson Searcy and Richard Jarman

The above excerpt is from p. 54-56 of The Renegade Pastor’s Guide to Managing the Stress of Ministry.

Pastors Nelson Searcy and Richard Jarman share their secrets to effective stress management with practical steps and insights that you can start implementing immediately! God wants you to be a fruitful, faithful minister of the gospel. He wants you, as a Renegade Pastor, to rise above average as you pursue God’s best for you, your family, and your ministry.

P.S. – Click here to grab your copy from Amazon today!

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.