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

You can see something good come out of stressful situations. We don’t want to come across as preachers here (even though we are). But it might be helpful to remind ourselves that God is in the business of bringing good out of even the worst episodes imaginable. The Bible is full of stories of God’s people being put in impossible situations.

From Joseph, to Moses, to David, to Paul and Jesus Himself, God can make good come out of bad circumstances. We need to remember this when we face tough scenarios: nothing is beyond God’s ability to redeem and heal. He brings together people who have been at odds for years. He provides financial solutions, sometimes in miraculous ways. We need to correctly identify stressful situations and plan a cause of action to alleviate the stress. But we should never forget that God is also at work, bringing good out of challenging situations.

Many of the stresses you will encounter in your ministry can be viewed as either good or bad. It all depends on the way you approach them. If you think something is hopeless or unwinnable, you often will make it so. If you believe there is a way out of the stress, and that God wants to teach you and your congregation through the ordeal, you will make that happen also. We are all really good at self-fulfilling prophecies.

– Nelson Searcy and Richard Jarman

The above excerpt is from p. 24-25 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!

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

© 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.