Feeling Stuck?

Do you ever feel stuck? Feel like your just "doing" ministry the best you know how? That can be a very discouraging feeling. Most pastor might not admit this feeling burning deep within them for the fear that if they did it would make them "nonspiritual".  Yet, this feeling exists somewhere between faith and failure. If we were to be honest with ourselves long enough to evaluate what is happening than maybe we would get the answer. Let's take a look at some possible answers to why we feel stuck...

1. Secret Sin- This is likely the first conclusion that most of us (or others talking about us) come up with. There must be some "sin" in our lives that we are keeping secret and unconfessed. Though this might be a contributing factor, I don't think it is the root cause. I don't want to sound soft on sin, but I don't know that this is the answer. None of us are without sin and sin doesn't have any levels. While I do believe that sin hinders our relationship I am not sold on the idea that it's the reason we feel stuck in ministry.
2. Not Enough Faith- We see our "stuckness" as a sign that we don't have enough faith to do what God has called us to do. My question for this is "Faith in Who?". Our faith isn't about us in the first place, it's about Him. The Lord said that if we have the faith of a mustard seed we could move mountains. The word also says that EVERY man was granted a measure of faith. No, I don't think the answer is found here either.
3. Lack of Communication- Now we are getting somewhere. This is where I know I err. I tend to be a "doer" with the motto of "getter done". Sometimes we can get going in ministry and think that we have everything under control. This should be a key indicator that we are definitely not in control. Time spent in a two way conversation with God in necessary to a vibrant ministry. Remember Prayer is a dialog not a monologue.
4. Unsurrendered- I think we have hit the target with this one. In ministry we get these ideas of what "we" want to do and we come to God asking him to bless "our" work. Ministry explodes when it's his and not ours. Now, I am preaching to the choir here because I struggle with lots of good ministry ideas. I want to pick the ball up and get it rolling only to hit wall after wall. We have to ask ourselves if we have truly sought God out and surrendered to whatever He has planned. It is here that I tend to think that if I surrender to what He wants that it won't look like what I envisioned. Most of the time that's great when looking hindsight, but do we realize that what God wants is so much bigger than anything we can imagine. What looks so small to us can have an eternal weight of glory for His Kingdom.

Let's encourage each other when we are stuck to communicate with God and surrender to His will, no matter what that looks like. God has a "pass or fail" grade scale, Pass if we do it in communion with Him, Fail if we attempt to do it on our own. So if we feel stuck between faith and failure today, take time to pray and know that He is with us, that He loves us, and that He has a plan for us! I don't know about you, but I was just encouraged writing this! Be Blessed and know that you don't struggle alone.