Advice I would give my first-year ministry self

Written by Laura Osborne

God has a plan for your life and it may not match up with your plan.

My tenure in ministry is 15 years long now and running. It isn’t the track I thought it would have been, but it is a track that God put me on. He taught and has been teaching me valuable lessons along the way. Even in the midst of frustrating times when I thought He was leading me a certain way and that wasn’t always the case. I needed to trust. It was hard but necessary. It still is hard at times but necessary.

Surround yourself with people who you can lean on in the good times and in bad.

These needs to be people outside of your ministry setting. These are people that can be in ministry elsewhere (a pastor network group) or friends that are in your circles. When you are in the midst of ministry and life seems to be going many miles a minute you may not be getting the best help or advice from people in your ministry setting. Friends within the ministry circle you are in can be great, but there needs to be people outside of this circle as well.

God is bigger than anything you will come across, lean into Him.

Carve out time each and every day to be still and quiet with Him in his word. Set boundaries around this time. Set boundaries in general in ministry. I felt as if I needed to save everyone from everything, and that just wasn’t feasible, because I can’t do it all.

Ask for help.

When I was in my first few years of ministry I sought professional counseling because things were being brought to me that were much bigger than I knew how to handle. It was just for a season that I sought professional help, but it was invaluable. Don’t let yourself get bogged down with the troubles of others, lift them up to the Lord. Seek outside help as needed.

I am still learning along the way, God has keep me going. Don’t take yourself too seriously and keep learning as you go!