Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion

by Wayne Cordeiro

“the tragic flaw”—characters not admitting their limits to themselves or others.

A tragic flaw of many leaders is that they cannot recognize their limits or acknowledge their need for others as the demands of work or ministry scale up dramatically.

We don’t forget that we are Christians. We forget that we are human, and that one oversight alone can debilitate the potential of our future.

Suffering will change us, but not necessarily for the better. We have to choose that.

“It is in the quiet crucible of your personal, private sufferings that your noblest dreams are born and God’s greatest gifts are given in compensation for what you have been through.” WINTLEY PHIPS

It is a gift to be able to launch an inspiring vision. But unless you manage it along the way, it can turn on you, and soon the voracious appetite of the vision consumes you.

“Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.” CORRIE TEN BOOM

“Serotonin is a chemical like an endorphin. It’s a natural, feel-good hormone. It replenishes during times of rest and then fuels you while you’re working. If, however, you continue to drive yourself without replenishing, your store of serotonin will be depleted. As a substitute, your body will be forced to replace the serotonin with adrenaline.

You need to recharge, then reflect on what the trigger points were, and finally, restructure the way you’re living.”

“How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.” BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

God is not cruel, but He is not lenient. He is true; He is not safe. He is unchanging; therefore we must change. We must learn in order to succeed. Our failures do not influence our grades, but our unwillingness to learn from them does.

There are things built into the psyches of those of us bent on making our lives count for eternity that can later cause diminishing returns.

“To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.” MOTHER TERESA

“To do great work a man must be very idle as well as very industrious.” SAM UEL BUTLER

“Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self.” MAY SARTON

“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the Book widens and deepens with our years.” CHARLES H. SPURGEON

I am thinking of that account which I must render to God, whether I speak his Word faithfully or not.”6

“It is important to become aware that at every moment of our life we have an opportunity to choose joy. . . . It is in the choice that our true freedom lies, and that freedom is, in the final analysis, the freedom to love.” HENRI NOUWEN

Problems don’t destroy you. Unresolved problems do.

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” HELEN KELLER

Asaph’s confusion over events in his life caused him to blame God, and his incorrect conclusion resulted in a loss of hope . . . and a lot of tossing and turning in the wee hours of the morning.

He had allowed one evil woman to fill up his whole radar screen and ruin his outlook.

it was a season that compelled me into a winter wilderness that gave birth to a springtime of new growth that would refill my tank and renew my passion.

She talked about the sin of introspection: when we stand beside ourselves and look at ourselves critically instead of looking at God and how He sees us. I have learned how to be gentle with myself, not to be critical, working on shame issues so that shame is not working itself into the gut level of who I am.

“I wonder how much more effective our churches would be if we made the pastor’s spiritual health—not the pastor’s efficiency—our number one priority.” PHILIP YANCEY

This oscillation between desert and ministry is a nonnegotiable pattern for today’s busy pastor.

learning what filled and what drained my tank.

Solitude is a chosen separation for refining your soul. Isolation is what you crave when you neglect the first.

The ability to precisely define reality is the starting point for any hope for equilibrium.

I had not taken the time to reassess my motivations and the unseen drivers that propelled me forward.

Learning the difference between a concern and a responsibility may save your ministry, your family, and your sanity.

“The happiest people I know are the ones who have learned how to hold everything loosely and have given the worrisome, stress-filled, fearful details of their lives into God’s keeping.” CHARLES R. SWINDOLL