The Exhausting Toll of an Effective Ministry, Part 2

Bill Maier: They were amazed at his first teaching. In a synagogue in Capernaum, an itinerant preacher from Nazareth stood up, opened the scrolls, and taught with an authority the people had never heard before. Elbows nudge neighbors, whispers spread. Who is this man? Within days, word raced across Galilee, and the crowds began to swell. But growing crowds carry hidden perils, pride, popularity, and the pull to build your own kingdom. So, how did Jesus stay grounded when success came knocking? Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll offers biblical wisdom every one of us needs to hear.
Chuck Swindoll: Our Father, we place before you our lives, and we we do so grateful for your grace. Without that, the future would be hopeless. We would find ourselves lost in a morass of failures and disappointments and and high expectations, but poor delivery. We would remember the things that were lacking rather than the good things provided. Your grace changes our whole perspective. It meets needs that we cannot meet for ourselves. It provides an acceptance that we don't deserve. It offers open arms where we would otherwise face a pointing finger of shame and guilt. Thank you, Father, that your love for us knows no bounds, that your mercy is new every morning, and your grace is super abundant. It really is amazing. And we bow before you, our God of amazing grace, to tell you how much we love you. Thank you for your grace and protecting us in the midst of terrorizing war and a heartbreaking loss, major disappointments, even at times poor leadership. Thank you for your grace in supplying our needs and for doing so in such an amazing way that we often looking back can hardly believe the way you did that. It's in the name of Jesus Christ and because of his amazing grace. We give and we pray. Everyone said Amen.
Bill Maier: You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the Gospel according to Mark, be sure to purchase a copy of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study workbooks by going to insight.org/offer. Chuck titled today's message The Exhausting Toll of an Effective Ministry.
Chuck Swindoll: If your Bible is open to Mark chapter 1, you will observe shortly after he calls the first five disciples, he now comes to the synagogue at Capernaum, verse 21. They went to Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and began to teach. Observe, they were amazed at his teaching. Verse 22 tells us he was teaching them as one having authority, not as the scribes. He deals with a demon or demons that have filled this person in the synagogue. And verse 27 tells us again they're amazed, and they debated among themselves saying, what is he? What is this, this new teaching with authority? It was a divine authority that compelled the people to listen and to admire. They're amazed, not surprisingly. Verse 28 immediately the news about him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee. People began to come to Capernaum to see him, to hear him, to witness this unusual spokesman. Verse 33, the whole city is gathered at the door. Early in the morning, Jesus arises. Verse 35 tells us and and he got up and and and left the house, and he went away to a secluded place and was praying there. He's not out trying to increase the crowd. He's not out promoting himself. He goes to a secluded place early in the morning before sun up and and hides away there for time with his God. And Simon, verse 36, we read along with his companions searched for him. When they found him, they said to him, what every preacher would love to hear? Everyone is looking for you. But it doesn't turn Jesus' head. To their surprise, his response is let's not go back there. Verse 38, let's go somewhere else to the towns nearby that we may preach there also. For that is what I came for. In case you wonder how much they hated him, verse 6 of chapter 3 reveals they met with others that they might determine how to destroy him. Nevertheless, the crowds continue to grow. Notice in verse 7 he withdraws to the sea with his disciples. A great multitude from Galilee followed. All those pressed around him in order to touch him. So, Jesus deals with the numbers in an interesting way. He he asks for help by having a place on the boat, and that would of course help in the acoustics so that large crowds could hear as he spoke from a small body of water, perhaps right off off the shore from the Sea of Galilee. So, he speaks of their pressing around him, and he's dealing with those demons that have been in the lives of these individuals. And and believe me, written between the lines, humanly speaking, is a growing exhaustion. Crowds can be exhausting and draining. We don't read it in Mark's Gospel, but in Luke 6 verse 12 we read that he spent all night praying when he went up on the mountain. He just needed time again with the Father. Warren Wiersbe writes wisely, had Jesus been a celebrity and not a servant, he would have catered to the crowds and tried to please them. Instead, he withdrew from the crowds and began to minister especially to his disciples. Jesus knew that most of the people who pushed to get near him were shallow and insincere, but his disciples did not know this. Unless they take all this success seriously, Jesus had to teach these men the truth about the crowds and the kingdom. And so we read in verses 13 to 15 of the beginning of his band of disciples. It isn't tedious detail, but it is worth noting that Mark describes this setting as a time when Jesus summoned those whom he wanted, verse 13, and then appointed those whom he chose. We'll get back to those verbs in a moment. Robert Coleman puts it well in his work The Master Plan of Evangelism. His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow. Men were to be his method of winning the world to God. The initial objective was to enlist men who could bear witness to his life and carry on his work after he returned to the Father. So, it makes sense that Jesus now away from the crowd and off of the way from the sea, now in the mountain, having prayed all night, begins to select those he wants. We read that first he called them. It's translated in the New American Standard Bible, he summoned them. Literally, the text reads he called to himself an extremely important act of selection. He could have called 120. He could have called 1,200. For those of us impressed with numbers, we would think why didn't he call five, 6,000 people? Because he knew that it would take only 12. And that would be the limit of his ability to pour himself into that number. So, he thought in a limited way he summoned those whom he himself wanted. And they came to him. Look at the next verse. He appointed 12. The Greek says he made 12. I think of Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He made the heavens and the earth. To render this appoint is is incomplete. To appoint is to select some from an existing lot, but to make is to bring into existence. These are mere men. He's going to make them into his disciples. They had a long ways to go, and three years was hardly enough time. Look how long it's taken some of us to get halfway near where we had long to be many years ago. So, he would spend time. He would pour himself into this ragged aggregation of souls, as Coleman calls them. And none of them were much to write home about. Be honest with you. You wouldn't have hired one of them to be a part of your company, or except Judas. He was the most impressive. He was the one they trusted the most because he held the bag that was their money. But he was a fake. He's a mystery, but that's another subject. Why would he bring them to himself? Look at verse 14. He appointed 12. First, look at the order that they might be with him. And second, that he could send them out to preach. And third, that they might have authority to cast out demons. Being with him is first. Preaching is second. Doing that supernatural work of exercising is third. I've always appreciated it that Billy Graham, the evangelist whom we all admire, would say toward the end of his life recently in his book Just as I Am, if he had it to do over again, he would study more and preach less. I admire that. The easiest thing for those who are gifted to preach is to substitute study for public ministry. To give up the study and to go for the crowds. Jesus says you're going to first be with me. We will on occasion branch out, but for the most part, we're going to share life. You're going to learn how to do it and why to do it and what to do to minister deeply. And then I will send you forth to preach, and then you will be given the authority to cast out demons. What a magnificent model we have in Christ. Never paid any attention to his press clippings. Never let any of that turn his head. He kept his perspective. He focused on the essentials. Before I apply it to wrap this up, let me warn anyone of you attracted to the whole subject of demonism, stay away from it. It's the nastiest part of ministry. It 's the most treacherous part of working with people. When demons emerge, you're dealing with the supernatural, and you are not that. You must rely on one who is. And there's no handbook to follow. You must have God's kind of authority. I love the words of Michael W. Smith at a concert not long ago. He made the comment that he had learned that God is God, and he is not. I like that. God is God. He can handle the demons. If he ever brings me into the setting where I must, my dependence on him is total. And so it would be for the apostles. They must have authority to carry out a deliverance ministry. Now the application. Let's turn from the first century to the 21st. Can we do that without your fishing for your keys? Can we just focus for a few moments on where we are today? Let's come now to where life crushes in on us. Let's come to where we find people sometime expecting and demanding more. Let's let's find ourselves on occasion feeling overwhelmed. What does the Lord say through this? First of all, when life crushes in, by the way, that's when we're always tempted to quit. My dad used to say to me, son, it's always too early to quit. So, get that out of your vocabulary. But when life crushes in, we're tempted to quit. Here's the application. We need to seek quiet solitude. We need to seek quiet solitude. Never apologize for taking time off or getting away. You who are workaholics, we all know you need the rest. So, don't feel you need to apologize for taking a little rest. We would all appreciate your taking a little rest. Vance Havner used to say, if you don't come apart, you will come apart. Some of you are near coming apart, and it isn't attractive. You need time. If you can't find the sea, you need a long drive, a long walk rather regularly. Need a little more rest, a little less action. When life crushes in, we need to seek quiet solitude. Second, when people expect more, which by the way makes us resentful, you've been there. Don't answer out loud. You've met needs and met needs and met needs, and they asked for just 45 more minutes. Or could you do this? I I will tell you that I uh I I administered at a previous church. We had five services every Sunday. And uh uh that was quite draining, uh three in the morning, two every night, a Sunday, not every night. But it seemed like it that on Sundays, three in the morning, two at night. We had a little couple that had visited from another community, and they had looked forward to a personal tour of the church by the pastor. They came to the second evening service. And uh they waited, and finally when I got to the end of the line, it was about 9:15, 9:30 as I recall. And they said, well, we're looking forward to the tour. We've come from Podunk City or wherever they they were from. And uh I said, really, who's going to take you? You are. You're the preacher. We've been looking forward to this for a long time. I said, you know what, I'm sorry. I just can't do it. You can't do what? You're the preacher here? Yeah. Well, we would like the tour. Actually, I don't do tours 9:30 on Sunday nights. Uh well. And then they wrote a letter where they shared a portion of their mind they couldn't afford to lose. And um I thought some people just expect too much. Have a heart. Okay? And you are so good about that here at uh Stonebriar Community Church. And I thank you for that. But when people expect more, we need to say that's enough. Okay? We need to say that's enough. Let's do it. That's enough. Some of you never moved your lips. Okay, here we go again. That's enough. Good. Good. Practice that. When you're shaving in the morning, that's enough. That's enough. You guys learned to say that because for some people enough is never enough. You know the old saying, I'd rather burn out than rust out. What kind of an option is that? Either way, you're out. I'd rather do neither. There's no great shakes about burning out. Very few of us are effective in a hospital having gone through a breakdown. So, set your limits. Jesus went up on the mountain and called to him 12, even though he could have had 1200 by walking down to Capernaum. But he walked away from that. There's a third. When feeling overwhelmed, which by the way prompts self-pity, uh start feeling sorry for yourself. When feeling overwhelmed, here's the application. We need to apply ruthless trust, ruthless trust. Had a mother come to me this morning, and she was very disturbed over a situation in their home. My heart went out to her, and she described the setting with her particular offspring. And and she went over it and went over it and went over it and went over it. And I put my hand on her arm, and I said uh I I I cannot give you an answer. No one knows that answer. You can't fix this now grown child of yours. You must trust God, ruthlessly trust, ruthlessly trust him. And the more impossible the situation, the more ruthless the trust. Just bring it before him, leave it before him, place it there and return to that trust. And he will honor that. I get the thought of ruthless trust from Brennan Manning, a book titled Ruthless Trust. The forward of it is written by Richard Foster. Listen to this brief paragraph. When our children were young, I would sometimes rise early on a Saturday morning and fix them pancakes for breakfast. It was all great fun, the broken eggs, the spilled milk, the batter, and the chatter. They loved pancakes, even my pancakes. And they would wolf them down quickly. I'd often watch in astonishment at their greedy eating. Not once did I see either of them slipping a few pancakes under the table or stuffing some in their pockets thinking, I don't know about Dad. Maybe there won't be any pancakes tomorrow. So, I better get myself a little stash just in case. Not once did they ask me about the price of eggs or my ability to secure enough milk for tomorrow. No, as far as they were concerned, there was an endless supply of pancakes. They lived, you see, in trust. You can trust your God with the things you cannot handle. If you could not, he is not God. He can handle it. Let's bow our heads together. I don't know where you are in this message, but I have the feeling some of you are near the breaking point. You're on the edge. You've done all you know to do. Things still aren't under the kind of control you would love for them to be under. That's not your responsibility. That's not your job. Maybe it's time to say today that's enough. That's enough. Enough of my own way, Lord, and I give myself to you, and I take Christ as my own Lord and master. I come to Jesus Christ because I've made a mess of my life, and I believe just as he met the needs in the first century, he can meet mine in the 21st. And I bring my sins and my failures and my mess, and I lay it all out and all of its chaos. And I trust him, ruthless trust. I place my faith in Christ. It's called becoming a Christian. We'd love to help you in your journey, but you need to make the first move. We can not make the decision for you. You may know Christ, but people can't tell by looking. The jumble and the mess of your current chaos is not a very good example of your life of faith. Maybe a good day to pull back and ruthlessly deal with your schedule so that you have time to do what is eternal rather than focusing always on the temporal. And so our Father, we lay ourselves before you as those disciples must have done on more than a few occasions. And we acknowledge that um the needs are many and varied, and deadlines are real. And money is tight, and time is short. And people are demanding. And the to-do list is long, and the stack is high. Somehow I pray that we will be able to find a place to withdraw by the sea or along the back roads on a windswept hill where we might be still and learn again that you are God. Forgive us our Father for bragging about an overdrawn schedule and being proud of not taking time off. Teach us the value of saying no. That's enough. So that we can say yes to you as we trust you with a ruthless trust, especially those things that we can no longer handle. In the name of Christ, we all pray these things. And everyone said Amen.
Bill Maier: Maybe you'll find a place to withdraw today, perhaps by the sea, along back roads, or on a windswept hill. While there, be still enough to remember that God is God, and you are not. Whatever it is in your life you can no longer handle, place it in his hands with a ruthless trust. He is more than able. You're listening to Insight for Living. Chuck Swindoll titled today's message from Mark chapter 3 The Exhausting Toll of an Effective Ministry. You spent this week listening to Chuck open Mark's Gospel, but have you ever wondered how God shaped the man behind the microphone? For the very first time, Chuck tells that story himself in a memoir called Awakened by Grace. It's the voice you've come to trust, turned toward his own life, the laughter, the honesty, the hard chapters, and the grace that ran through all of it across more than nine decades. Chuck holds nothing back. And when you read it, you'll walk away with a kind of wisdom a man only gathers by living it. To have a copy sent to your home, call 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/memoir. Before the week is out, let us help you get your heart ready for Christmas. We'd love to send you a 25-day Advent devotional published exclusively by Insight for Living. It's called Everlasting Light. Request it today, and it'll reach you in plenty of time to begin the season unhurried and expectant. Our only ask is that you include a gift to support this ministry, the radio, the website, and every other way Chuck's teaching reaches people who need it. And that's the beauty of it. The same gift that studies your own family this Advent helps carry the hope of Jesus to someone still waiting in the dark. Has there ever been a more urgent hour to send that light? Again, the Advent devotional is called Everlasting Light. Call us at 800-772-8888 or give online at insight.org/donate. I'm Bill Maier. Join us when Chuck Swindoll continues his comprehensive study in the Gospel of Mark Monday on Insight for Living. The preceding message The Exhausting Toll of an Effective Ministry was copyrighted in 2010 and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.