Carolyn Haas is the co-lead pastor at Substance Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

How do you balance life and ministry? It’s probably the number one question I’m asked. Like most women, I want to have and do it all. Thankfully, though, God has given me insights on how to hold everything together and have fun doing it. So allow me to share three disciplines that can enable you to have a supernatural amount of balance, no matter what kind of chaos swirls around you.

  • Know yourself and your spouse: Don’t compare yourself with other couples, pastors, or leaders. You are a unique combo. God has a special pace, season, and journey for you.
  • Know your season: Not every opportunity or promotion is from God; live in touch with your season! Find your rhythm and protect it without apology.
  • Spend quality time with God: You can read your Bible and still not have quality time with him. So the question is this: Despite all of our spiritual motions, are we really sitting at Jesus’s feet?

Remember, prayer avails much (James 5:16) – the more you pray, the less you have to work! Or as Paul put it: produce work through faith, rather than sweat (1 Thessalonians 1:3). God will speak, if we will listen.

How can you protect your time with God and listen better, moving forward?

Carolyn Haas is the co-lead pastor at Substance Church and a speaker at Bridging the Gap’s Spring Conference 2014. Find more from Carolyn on Twitter @carolynhaas. This devotional was originally published in BTG’s “Flourish” devotional book, printed spring 2014. Look for our upcoming devotional book, “Words Matter” in fall 2014.