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Pastor, don’t let doubt stop you from what God has clearly called you to do. Doubt is the opposite of faith. Scripture says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). And Paul reminds us, “Everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23 NIV).Once you’ve set a God-given goal, you need to move forward in faith.But here’s what often happens. As soon as you set your goal, the enemy starts whispering questions.Is this really God’s will?What if I’m wrong?Do I really deserve this?Am I being selfish or prideful?I once saw a Peanuts cartoon that perfectly captured this struggle. Charlie Brown stands on the pitcher’s mound. A pop fly is coming down. If he catches it, they win the game. He prays, “Please let me catch it. Please let me be the hero.” Then, as the ball drops, he starts second-guessing himself. “Do I deserve to be the hero? Is baseball really that important? Lots of kids don’t even have a place to sleep.”The ball hits his glove and falls to the ground.When Linus asks how he missed such an easy catch, Charlie Brown says, “I prayed myself out of it.”I know there have been times I’ve prayed myself out of great goals and dreams.You must have confidence that God wants to work through you. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6 NIV). If God put the desire there and you’ve surrendered your will to his, you can trust him with it.Joshua struggled with this. After Moses’ death, he felt inadequate. So God gave him a repeated command: “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:6 NIV). Four times in that chapter God tells him to be strong and courageous.Why?Because fear keeps you in the desert. Not problems. Not obstacles. Fear.Fear keeps you from becoming all God wants you to be. Fear keeps your church from becoming what God designed it to become.Here are three common things that rob pastors of confidence.1. ExperienceExperience can be a blessing, but it can also become baggage.We say, “Yes, I know God wants me to do this, but I’ve tried before. It hasn’t worked before. I’ve failed too many times.”Sometimes inexperience is an advantage because you don’t yet know what “can’t” be done.Past defeats, old hurts, and previous mistakes can quietly control your future if you let them. Don’t allow yesterday’s disappointments to dictate tomorrow’s obedience.Never let bad memories control the future.2. EmotionsToo many leaders trust their moods.I don’t feel like it. I’m too tired.I’m inadequate.There have been Sundays when I didn’t feel like preaching. But Scripture says, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2 NIV). Faithfulness is not based on feelings.One of the hardest parts of ministry is keeping your emotional tank filled with the love, peace, joy, and confidence of God so you have something to give away. If you don’t manage your emotions, they will manage you.And here’s a simple rule: Never make a major decision when you’re down. When you’re discouraged or depleted, postpone big decisions if you can. Decisions made in depression are rarely wise ones.Don’t let your moods rob you of your calling.3. ExcusesExcuses are rational lies. They sound reasonable, but they aren’t rooted in faith.I don’t have the time.I don’t have the money.I don’t have the staff.I don’t have the training.Scripture says, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2 NIV). If you lack something necessary to fulfill God’s vision, ask him for it. God is not limited by what you currently lack.Excuses shrink vision. Faith expands it.Pastor, if you have predetermined to do God’s will—if you’ve honestly said, “God, I want what you want”—then you can trust the desires he places in your heart.Don’t let experience, emotions, or excuses rob you of confidence.Step forward in faith.Be strong and courageous.And watch what God does through a leader who refuses to stay in the desert.

“But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.” 2 Timothy 4:17 (NLT)When you’re lonely in ministry, where is God?He’s where he has always been—right beside you.Even when you don’t feel it.Pastoral loneliness is often quiet. You can be surrounded by people on Sunday and still feel unseen on Monday. You carry the weight of others’ needs. You listen more than you’re listened to. And sometimes, after pouring yourself out, you wonder who is standing with you.Paul knew that feeling. Near the end of his life, he wrote from a place of abandonment and opposition. Yet he could say with confidence, “The Lord stood with me and gave me strength” (2 Timothy 4:17 NLT).God’s presence didn’t remove Paul’s hardship, but it sustained him through it.Scripture reminds us again and again that if you belong to Christ, you are never alone. Jesus promised, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 NIV). That promise wasn’t just for crowded moments of ministry. It was for prison cells, lonely roads, and weary hearts.Loneliness can actually become a place of deeper fellowship with God.Not because loneliness is good—but because God is faithful.When leadership feels isolating, God doesn’t step back. He leans in. He uses quiet seasons to remind you that your identity isn’t rooted in response or results, but in his presence.Prayer, then, becomes more than a discipline. It becomes companionship.You don’t have to sound strong when you pray. You can say exactly what you feel: “God, I’m tired. I’m lonely. I’m discouraged. I don’t know if I’m making a difference.” Those prayers don’t push God away. They draw him closer.David asked, “Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7 NIV). The answer was simple: nowhere. Pastor, if you’ve trusted Christ, God is with you—in your office, in your questions, in your weariness, and in your faithfulness. Even when leadership feels lonely, you are never alone.The Lord is standing with you today.

There comes a point in ministry when you realize you’re working hard—but you’re not sure what you’re aiming for anymore.You’re preaching every week. You’re caring for people. You’re putting out fires and keeping things moving. But somewhere along the way, the sense of direction has faded. Instead of leading forward, you feel like you’re maintaining the status quo.Too many church leaders don’t know what they want for their church, and often they don’t know what they want for their family either. The result is frustration. You’re busy, but you’re drifting.Most pastors don’t fail because they’re unfaithful. They stall because they’re unclear.All leaders need clarity. When Joshua stepped into leadership, it was at a moment when clarity was desperately needed.After the death of Moses, God gave Joshua an assignment that looked impossible. The land God promised was already occupied by nations larger and stronger than Israel (see Deuteronomy 7:1). Even the Promised Land had problems.That’s an important reminder for pastors. Even when God is blessing your ministry, difficulties will come. Faith doesn’t remove obstacles; faith moves forward in spite of them.God never asks us to do anything without his help. And in Joshua 1, God gives Joshua a leadership key to success that still applies to every pastor and church leader today.God Begins with ClarityBefore Joshua ever leads a battle, God gives him something far more important: clear direction.“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west" (Joshua 1:2–4 NIV).In these verses, God clearly outlines what Joshua is to do, when he is to do it, and where he is to go. Joshua isn’t left guessing. He has a precise assignment and a specific target. He knows exactly what God wants him to do.If you’re going to be a leader God can use, you must first be clear in your direction.What feels personal in a pastor’s heart never stays personal for long. Direction—or the lack of it—always shapes the people you lead.Nothing precedes purpose. Until you know why something exists, you have no foundation, no motivation, and no direction. That’s true for churches just as much as it is for leaders.If you’re starting a new church, your first task isn’t programs or plans—it’s defining purpose. And if you’re serving in an existing church that feels plateaued, declining, or discouraged, your first task is to recapture that purpose.Absolutely nothing will revitalize a discouraged church faster than rediscovering its purpose.As I prepared to start Saddleback, one of the most important things I discovered was that growing, healthy churches have a clear-cut identity. They understand their reason for being. They are precise in their purpose. They know exactly what God has called them to do—and they know what is not their business.When that clarity is missing, confusion fills the gap.If you ask church members why their church exists, you’ll often get a wide range of answers. Many assume the church exists primarily to meet their needs and their family’s needs. Meanwhile, pastors often describe the church’s purpose very differently. When a congregation and its leadership can’t even agree on why the church exists, conflict and stagnation are inevitable.Clarity Is a Leadership ResponsibilityThat’s why clarity isn’t a luxury for leaders. It’s a responsibility.I’ve seen this play out repeatedly in ministry. At Saddleback—as we built up our people and our programs—we spent years looking for a piece of property that would become our church campus. We faced resistance, delays, and setbacks. But eventually God brought us to the right property, and the direction was clear.That clear direction raised morale. It increased commitment. It energized people. Simply having a clear destination created momentum. When the direction was specific, people were willing to sacrifice and move forward together.When you get specific, people get excited.Many pastors hesitate to define direction because clarity feels risky. Once you name a goal, it can be evaluated. Once you define a direction, you open yourself to criticism. Vague vision feels safer—but it can’t inspire faith.Clarity is an act of faith.God didn’t tell Joshua to feel ready. He told him where to go. And that clarity gave Joshua the confidence to move forward into uncertainty.The same is true for you. God doesn’t hold you responsible for outcomes you can’t control—but he does call you to be clear about the direction he’s given you.So let me ask you this:Where has God already made the direction clear—but you’ve kept it vague to avoid risk?Clarity won’t remove the challenges in front of you. But it will give you the confidence to move forward through them.

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NLT)Pastor, you know the word sanctification. You’ve preached it. You’ve taught it.But 1 Corinthians 6 reminds us that sanctification isn’t only about our hearts or habits. It’s also about something deeply practical: our bodies.Paul says your body belongs to God. It’s the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. And because of that, honoring God includes how you care for yourself physically—not as a side issue, but as faithful stewardship.So how do you honor God with your body?It’s not about image or perfection. It’s not about comparison.It’s about stewardship.Your body is something God has entrusted to you. He designed it with limits, rhythms, and needs. Caring for it is part of managing what he has placed in your hands. When you ignore those limits—chronic exhaustion, poor rest, neglect—you’re not just tired. You’re mismanaging a trust.The psalmist prayed, “You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands” (Psalm 119:73 NLT). God built wisdom about health, rest, and self-control into the way he made you. Stewardship means paying attention to those signals instead of overriding them.Paul uses the image of an athlete to make the same point: “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize” (1 Corinthians 9:25 NLT). Discipline isn’t about appearance. It’s about readiness. Athletes care for their bodies so they can finish what they’ve been called to do.In the same way, caring for your body allows you to stay available to God’s work—week after week, season after season. Stewardship isn’t about doing more. It’s about lasting longer.So as you begin this week, ask yourself this stewardship question:What’s one small adjustment I can make today to better care for what God has entrusted to me?