Ever feel discouraged?
Sometimes you are intimidated, overwhelmed, and stuck comparing your meager beginnings to someone’s massive success. There’s temptation to give up, look down, and punch your progress in the face.
Allow me to challenge you: never stop showing up.
Each new day provides you with a decision. Will I show up or give up?
You’re not sure what you’re doing is quality, but it’s all you got. Keep showing up.
You’re not even sure you’re making a difference. Keep showing up.
You don’t know if anyone is paying attention. Keep showing up.
The Tension Of Showing Up
Recently, I organized an event to cast vision to my team. I wanted to bare my soul, lighting the room on fire with my brilliant thoughts.
I pictured everyone lining up after I was done, waiting to ask me questions like, “What must I doeth to go deeper?” or “That was the most life changing encounter with truth I’ve ever heard. You are truly a gifted, miraculous servant of God.”
Truth is, I didn’t field any such questions. A lot of people didn’t show up. Nobody said anything. People looked bored. I wanted to run and hide.
Oftentimes we are left wondering if anybody even cares – if what we do really matters.
Yes, sometimes you need to change course, make tweaks, and improve. That’s part of ministry.
But don’t give up. Keep doing what you know is right.
Sowing seed and plowing fields is hard work. It’s time consuming and not particularly eye-catching.
But the harvest is coming.
Base Hits Over Home Runs
When I asked Rick Muchow (former worship pastor at Saddleback for 25 years) for some worship leading advice, he told me something Rick Warren had challenged him with years ago:
“Don’t worry about hitting home runs every weekend. Just get a base hit.”
Let’s just roll with that baseball analogy for a few sentences (my apologies if you hate baseball).
It’s rare for me to ever mention my city’s baseball team because they haven’t had a winning season for a long time. But as of this writing, the Pittsburgh Pirates are killing it.
Baseball teams that win don’t neglect the small stuff. Coaches know that you can’t cast a vision that says, “Swing for the fences! Don’t bother returning to this team unless you hit a home run every time!” We all know that is stupid, ridiculous leadership.
Sometimes you need to bunt in order to advance the runner. Sometimes you have to steal a base. We want winning to be pretty, but most of the time it’s not. You scratch and squeeze and claw your way to getting an extra run that wins the game.
Rick’s advice rings true for we worship leaders. Don’t try to copy Hillsong United’s last world tour every weekend. Focus on that base hit.
Don’t let discouragement derail you. Face it and keep showing up (Tweet that).
Let Nothing Move You
Remember this?
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
Aren’t you grateful that promise is in Scripture? Because most of the time I feel weary and want to give up. Sometimes I feel that every day. I start thinking of how unqualified I am. How young I am. How disorganized I am.
I muster every excuse I can to disqualify myself from God’s call. But then I remember Galatians 6:9. Thank God for Galatians 6:9.
What about this?
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (I Corinthians 15:58).
Not in vain. Every time you show up, you are making a difference. It’s right there in Scripture.
- Every time you show up early to pray.
- Every time people don’t come to your event.
- Every time you awkwardly cast vision to your team.
- Every time you lead worship for a room of blank stares.
God has something in store for you and it may be just around the corner.
Never stop showing up.
Your Turn
Alright, my friends – can you take a couple minutes and share in the comments? We need to know that we’re not alone when discouragement strikes.
Even if you have never left a comment before, now is a great time to start. Because your ideas, experience, and wisdom will make us all better.
Question: What is some discouragement you have faced? What do you think the choice to keep “showing up” will make possible for you? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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It’s like that in our prayer team. I schedule a prayer meeting. We’re gonna pray and 100 people will show up because everyone cant wait to pray and God will hear the voices of the multitude and open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out His Spirit and we’ll have Revival and it all started because I called a prayer meeting. So I show up for this glorious prayer meeting and out of a congregation of 2000, 10 other people join me. And they’re not interested in praying for Revival. What to do? So we keep going. That’s all I know to do. Thank you for the encouragement.
Keep going for it, Holly. Prayer meetings are historically one of the most difficult events to get people to show up for. I’ve found when you schedule it when people are already there, that helps.
Thank you for the encouragement. At this time, there’s more going on. I became the Prayer Team Coordinator about 5 1/2 yrs ago. I couldn’t and didnt want do the job alone, so I asked several people to join me. Only one said yes…a long time friend & prayer warrior. We were friends and ministry partners. Earlier this month, he, his wife and daughter were in a car accident. His wife and daughter survived, but he went Home to be with The Lord. It really took the wind out of my sails. This week, we have our first meeting without him. We need to go forward-I know that-its just that I’m not sure what to do or where to go. I’m not alone. There are three others on the leadership team. We’re all struggling but we have to go forward. Though we have a huge hole in our team, we are complete because we are in Christ. Keep writing, brother. We all need the encouragement.
You know, you have one of those days then you open your email and find this! I love God’s Hand in motion! I subbed for a worship leader yesterday. From the moment we started rehearsing before Mass, one of the musicians took it upon himself to be totally disrespectful of the fact that the usual leader was out and I was filling in. He laughed about some arrangements of songs I put together, every time someone hit a bad chord, that we were doing songs that I chose for memorial weekend, ( “they’re old songs, this is painful” ) and he got others to to start with distraction and disrespect. I calmly said that we needed to tone this down and prepare to serve the Lord and this Congregation. If you are having a difficult time with the musical choices, ask the Holy Spirit to guide your heart. Things were fine to a point after that but, subconsciously, he made me feel like crawling into a hole or just saying, “Hey, it’s all yours, I don’t need this”! Normally, I am never uncomfortable in ministry but, I had a hard time facing the Congregation. I didn’t feel worthy at all to lead. Weird because I lead two other music ministries that feel anointed because we’re all on the same page. When it was over, I felt like ” o boy, I let everyone down and we just played music today”. I never ask for feedback but, I got it and people said the music was gorgeous.Thus, the sometimes painful reward of worship while being humbled. I have to hold and keep this vision. my motto; to do what I was born to do. I will worship and honor the Lord with or without you. Nothing and no one will hold me down or hold me back. My aim or mission in life is to to reach one heart. If only one heart for it would be none without the efforts of one.Peace David and thanks
Voltin, that’s tough! Definitely an attitude that needs confronted. I would encourage you to see yourself as your team’s pastor – that they need your direct input to grow. People will either rise to the challenge or they need to move on from your team. Make sense?
My thoughts exactly and thanks
One of the discouragements i am facing right now is that i cant play any single instrument and i cant cast my vision out perfectly to my group and the devil wants to use this as a medium to make me feel unqualified… But i believe God has called me and He will see me through it… Thats whats keeping me going…
Once again, this blog is in season for me! haha Every week, I keep telling myself I’m done, I’m not coming back, I give up… but I keep showing up somehow! (I really don’t know how I always end up showing up ha) But I’m ALWAYS glad that I did. I always see the harvest. I always see the results of my sowing. Never once have I thought, “Wow, it would have been much better to just give up.” No way.
Something that has helped me a lot is realizing that making assumptions about everyone’s intentions and etc. isn’t going to help me out very much, unless I decide to believe that everyone loves me (I know that sounds silly, give me a sec ha). If someone looks bored, I assume they are in deep thought and that they are unaware of how their body language comes across to others. If someone isn’t giving me encouragement, I assume they are shy and might just think they don’t need to. Just because someone doesn’t respond how I want them to doesn’t mean they hate me or my leadership.
Assuming the best helps me keep discouragement in check with reality.
Ashley, this is a great point. I’m not sure why, but we do seem to assume the worst a lot. Like you described, I try and always assume the best. Thanks for sharing!
I use to feel like that, constant desire to quit like it wasn’t doing any good. Then I realized something, Satan understands the power of worship because He was THE worship leader before the fall, so of course he doesn’t want us up there worshiping. But one of the reasons he fell was because he was taking the praise of everyone and taking it for himself and not giving it up to God. I see a lot of that today and am having to constantly keep myself in check and ask myself, am I allowing myself to be glorified or giving that glory to God. That’s what worship is all about, glorifying our creator and seeking His manifest presence.
A great challenge, Jacob. So important to keep Christ at the center.
I cannot hold bear the darkness that presses me, I cry out to Him and He holds it back on all sides. He has not given us a Spirit of timidity, but of power, of love, of sound mind and self-discipline.
This week is transition into summer with work and family and ministry and I am still showing up. Wanted to throw it all away in frustration and weariness and pain this past week, and that is Satan’s game.
In Christ, we don’t play games, we win the war. He has made a way, He has paid the price, and He continues to call us His own, and He owns even this day.all the yesterdays, and every day that comes.
After a weekend of my guitar strap coming loose on the first song and almost dropping my guitar to then forgetting the words on the 1st verse of the following song, I needed to hear this. Thanks David.
Alex, it happens to all of us 🙂 Good to know you’re not alone, right?
Cant even tell you how well this was placed in my life. Thanks
David for your service and sacrifice!
A beautiful encouragement. Thank you David. My father, we found out almost two years ago he’s having na affair with a woman business partner, he admitted that time, and now, though we all tried to forgive, he still he can’t committ himself to care for our family emotionally and financially, he is drifting away, my mom and sisters don’t want him around anymore, so heart breaking seeing my family this way. The devil keeps mocking me and telling me I’m weak, man is weak, citing my dads choice, (because it is my dad who introduced me to this Christian community where I am a part of since 93 until now) blurring my role and vision for every musicministry and worship leader in our church, I feel I don’t want to be part of anything Christian anymore, then a friend shared and tagged me in your blog few days ago, reading it and our friends’ testimonies, it reminded me of Eph 2:8-9. It is not by my strength that I exist but because of the mercies of God. I can hide my emotions and pretend am okay in our assemblies, but I know God still sees our circumstances and so the need to rely on Him. I may have lost my vision of a godly biological father, but I love my dad and he too, I believe, is clawing his way out of the pit, I’m praying for him and am humbly sorry for doubting God’s grace in us. Tonight, I will show up in our church, with much dependence on God, holding on to His dignity in me, His image and likeness, rising above trials with renewed strength, with honest spirit and joyful heart. Thank you dear friends. Let’s keep showing up!
Hey Rico, wow. So sorry you’ve been going through all this. Very intense. I’m blessed by your strength and vision in the midst of the storm.
I was called to lead worship in my local assembly sometime ago and it was a total flop , that my worship pastor had to ask me out of the podium by taking over. I was totally embarrassed n discouraged but I kept of fence far from me. Took correction
I kept my self from feeling offended , took correction and kept showing up . And through the help of the Holy Spirit I have improved n I learn daily.
Lately I’ve been feeling my best is not good enough, haven’t been talking about it much. Just let it eat at me and because of that seen my abilities be affected by my own thoughts and feelings.
Reading that others go through the same challenges is more encouragement than thinking more people probably feel the same.
So I thank you David and everyone else who placed a comment for making yourself vulnerable. You are being living testimonies to me. Not because you’ve conquered already, but because you haven’t stopped showing up.
Good stuff, Janesca. Keep pressing through. There’s a light on the other side!
Wow….just what needed to be drilled into my head right now! Just moved to a new city one yr ago with 2 kids and just ha twins 3 months ago….desperately trying to keep a worship ministry going…feeling unable to put in as much energy and time as I want or feel i should. Feeling inadequate, musicians dropping like flies, Ahhhh! What to do what to do. I’m reminded that it has to start with prayer! I don’t know why I get lost trying s hard to “attract” people to the ministry through video, catchy ads, and great sets all alone. God has to be the first person we surrender to! He will provide in every way and when we remember that, we simply move forward in faith! God is at work here! Can’t wAit to see what happens, even if people have to listen to me all alone up there for a while 😉
This was just what I needed. Thanks.