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There’s a moment that happens in nearly every ministry leader’s life, often quietly, without announcement. It’s the moment when the calling you love begins to feel heavier than it used to. Not wrong. Not broken. Just heavier.

Ministry is beautiful.
Ministry is holy.
Ministry is deeply rewarding.

And ministry is weighty.

The Apostle Paul said it simply:

“And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”
— 2 Corinthians 11:28

There is a pressure inherent in shepherding souls.
Not because something is wrong, but because love always comes with weight.

But sometimes in the daily weight of ministry, sermon prep, counseling sessions, leadership tension, spiritual warfare, family needs, unexpected crises, volunteer shortages, and the unspoken emotional strain, we forget why we started.

Or more specifically:

We forget Who called us.

This week, as Thanksgiving nears, I want to speak to that part of you that remembers even if faintly the day God called your name.

The day you said yes.
The day your heart caught fire.
The day you knew, deep in your bones, “I was made for this.”

Let’s go back there together.

When Calling Felt Like Joy

Most of us didn’t stumble into ministry accidentally.

Some of us were wrecked by grace and couldn’t imagine keeping quiet about it.

Some of us saw the beauty of a life poured out and said, “Lord, use me.”

Some of us heard Him whisper, “Feed my sheep,” and we said yes, not fully knowing what it would require.

And at the beginning, there was joy.

There was clarity.
There was expectancy.
There was simplicity.

We weren’t thinking about:

• attendance trends
  
  
• budgets and building repairs
  
  
• church politics
  
  
• funerals and conflict mediation
  
  
• spiritual exhaustion
  
  
• or feeling like we had to hold everything together
  
  

We were just in love.

With Jesus.
With His Word.
With His people.
With the Gospel.

Our calling began in gratitude.

Not duty.

Not pressure.

Not identity.

But gratitude.

Gratitude for who Christ is.
Gratitude that He saved us.
Gratitude that He lets us be part of His work at all.

So let’s return to gratitude specifically, gratitude for the Caller Himself.

Thankfulness Begins With Remembering

The psalmist says:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation…”
— Psalm 51:12

Which means joy once present can grow dim.
And joy can be restored.

And the path to restoration almost always begins in remembering.

So pause, just for a moment, and reflect:

When did you first sense God calling you into ministry?

• A camp prayer night
  
  
• A conversation with a mentor
  
  
• A sermon that pierced the heart
  
  
• A season of brokenness, God used to rebuild
  
  
• A burden for people you couldn’t explain
  
  

You don’t have to try to feel that feeling again.
Just remember the moment.

And here’s the key:

The One who called you then is the One who sustains you now.

Your calling didn’t begin with you.
So it doesn’t depend on you to keep it alive.

It began in Him.
It rests in Him.
And it will be sustained by Him.

When Calling Gets Heavy

There are seasons where ministry feels like carrying a backpack filled with stones:

• every conflict weighs something
  
  
• every disappointment piles on
  
  
• every unmet expectation adds pressure
  
  
• every private battle grows quieter
  
  
• every unseen act of obedience asks more of the heart
  
  

In those seasons, we may not feel “thankful,” and that’s okay.

Gratitude doesn’t mean ignoring burden.
Gratitude just means we look past the burden to the One who carries it with us.

Jesus said:

“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
— Matthew 11:28

This wasn’t a verse for new believers.
This was a verse for disciples.

For followers.
For ministry leaders.
For those who had already said yes.

Jesus wasn’t offering escape from ministry.
He was offering companionship in ministry.

The rest He gives isn’t the rest of stepping away, it’s the rest of being held while you stay faithful.