I had a bad global worker habit. When a window came for rest or fun that benefited no one but me, I could always think of something more productive, more “serving,” that I could be doing. Even when I’d lie down at night, I’d be popping up like toast to do that one thing I forgot. 

Which begs the question: How does your self-care relate to the quality and effectiveness of your ministry? 

Maybe, like me earlier in my ministry, you might answer that self-care gets in the way. It’s selfish, stealing time you could be loving on others.  

But what if your self-care directly relates to how well and genuinely (Romans 12:9), you can love others (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)? What if rather than quenching the Holy Spirit, the care of your soul helped you tap into Him?  

When I’m not acknowledging and choosing the care God has created me to need—and the time it requires—I usually am operating out of my default mode. When it comes to the green pastures and still waters God’s leading me to, I’m mowing the grass and swimming laps.   

To be clear, I’m usually functioning out of my flesh. 

Trust me. The exhausted, fraying version of me and the holy version of me are usually two dramatically different people. They might do the same activities, but they accomplish them in vastly different ways. 

Author Steve Cuss writes wisely about the effect of our unseen, unaddressed anxieties and compulsions in ministry—without taking the time to listen to the still, small voice. 

You cannot be an effective servant for God when your own triggers and assumptions are speaking louder to you than the guidance of the Spirit. …. It isn’t selfish; it is the fastest path to paying attention to what is really going on so I can give it to God and relax in His presence. Following this increases the chance that I will operate out of God’s steam and God’s prompting rather than my own untamed reactivity. 

I have lain in the wake of leaders who didn’t take the time for self- and God-awareness. I’ve been the creator of wakes like that. 

Pursuing and receiving the care we need, I know now, is a form of humility—and a form of pressing on to know God. It’s acknowledging our God-assigned limitations, seeing ourselves with sober judgment (Romans 12:3). 

Rest requires embracing God’s pace, so we can hear God’s voice.