You know the feeling. A week full of hospital visits, funerals, counseling sessions, building maintenance, phone calls— besides anything that may be happening at home! In a weary week, one thing remains: Sunday is coming. Amid all the needs of the people in the church, Sunday will arrive, and your people will expect you to stand before them with a word from God.

Sometimes, we get jaded. The pressure of preparing a sermon every week, going into the mines of Scripture and coming up with jewels of truth to present to God’s people can create exhaustion. When pastors find themselves in these inevitable circumstances, Sunday becomes a burden more than a privilege. We lose our excitement to stand behind the pulpit and proclaim, “Thus saith the Lord.”

When we’re tired and overwhelmed, there may be a lure to take a shortcut in sermon preparation. We fail to give our best to the ministry of the Word. There may even be a temptation to quit. While the fatigue may be justified, what pastors may need is a shift in perspective.

Imagine if you’re asked to preach at the Pastor’s Conference at the Southern Baptist Convention. Imagine you’re asked to preach in a chapel service at one of our six great SBC seminaries. Imagine a large church down the road asking you to preach for a revival service. We look forward to those opportunities. We want to bring our “A-game” to the pulpit. We want people to respond. We want our sermons to make an impact. We prize those opportunities and give them our best. They create excitement.

You may never actually get an opportunity like this, and that’s okay. Those opportunities we see as “significant” from a human perspective are not what matter ultimately. What matters is that you steward well the calling and opportunities given by God. When you face these times of weariness, when Sunday becomes a burden, be reminded of these three exhortations.

Remember the Call of God on Your Life

As a pastor, you don’t deserve to be doing what you’re doing. You don’t deserve to know the Lord as Savior. You don’t deserve to be used by Him. You don’t deserve to give your life to His service. You don’t deserve to preach His Word. Yet, God in His infinite mercy and grace has caused you to be born-again. He has equipped and empowered you by His Holy Spirit. He has called you to serve His people as a pastor. Like Jeremiah, God set you apart before you were born to be His mouthpiece (Jeremiah 1:4–10). Don’t forget the joy of God’s call. Be grateful for the opportunity to serve Him.

Recognize the Privilege of Sunday

When the grass seems greener elsewhere, when a unique opportunity to preach creates excitement, remember this: You, as a pastor, have the privilege each Sunday to preach the Word of God to the people of God by the power of the Spirit of God for the purpose of God sanctifying His church. Many of your congregants would love the opportunity to spend more time in the Bible, and you get to do this as a job! Each time you preach the scriptures is a privilege. You have the opportunity to tell people how they can be saved and have eternal life! You have the  chance to give people hope in their times of suffering! You can point those who have lost hope in their marriage or for their children to the redemption found in Jesus! You get to stand as a representative of the Lord and communicate the inspired Word that profits believers and equips them for every good work in Christ (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Be excited, thankful, and joyful that you have the privilege to preach each Sunday!

Resolve to Give God and His People Your Best

Hardships happen. Weeks include weariness. But, resolve right now to work as unto the Lord in the ministry entrusted to you. He is worthy of your best. His people deserve your best. Heed Paul’s instructions in 2 Timothy 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” Follow the example of Jonathan Edwards, “Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it; and let it be just as providence orders it, I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty and my sin.”1

Being thankful and joyful in all things related to ministry is not going to be easy, and God never promised that it would. He has promised, however, to be with you always (Matthew 28:20). You can give all that you are to His service by His strength and His power.

Sunday is coming, and that’s a good thing. Remember the call of God on your life. Recognize the privilege of Sunday. Resolve to give God and His people your best. Pray with expectancy, preach with power, and persevere with joy!