I applied for a ministry position this week.
Aside from the usual resume and cover letter, there was also an application to fill out and return. Not a difficult application. But I stumbled through one question, thinking about it for days before putting pen to paper.
What is your chief weakness?
My immediate response startled me and I rebelled against it strongly. And rightly so. It is not a weakness and can actually be a strength for many. It is not a mistake to be corrected or something to apologize for.
I am an introvert.
I like alone. Quiet soothes me. Sometimes I need to talk to process, but mostly I write and think. Retreat is one of the most comfortable disciplines.
Being an introvert in ministry can be difficult. People are not like a business project. They cannot be checked off a to do list. Their lives cannot be contained in regular office hours. There are few neat little boxes to put ministry into and say the “job” is complete. Ministry is relationships, and that means people.Tasks are involved, to be sure. But the heart of ministry is people and their relationship with Christ.
Balance. I struggle to balance the needs of my family, ministry, and self.
Being an introvert is not my weakness. Balance is.
I have been in that place, that lonely place, where the body and heart and soul are worn to nothing. Burnout. It is not alone-ness. It is loneliness on many levels. We often liken burnout to frostbite when describing it. Once the damage has been done, that place is more sensitive. It needs more specialized care. Like a rubber band stretched to the almost-breaking point, there is a fear of being stretched that thin again.There is a remembrance of the pain. A fear of irreparable damage if it happens again.
Balance.
It swings both ways. Run too hard for too long and risk burnout. Or become almost reclusive and miss the ministry, the rich relationships before me, the lessons God wants to teach me and using others to do it.
What helps you maintain balance?
abiding one 
I’m learning, slowly, to check in with various sources for better balance. Regularly I’ve ignored my ‘gut’ with disastrous consequences, so I’ve begun doing a better job of intentionally listening and honoring what that innermost part of me is saying. I’m learning to do a direct check-in with God — “practicing his presence” maybe, although I’m woefully slack at it. “How shall I spend the next hour, Lord?” is a practical example. And, since both of these are subjective and internal, I also know it is helpful to check in with friends or family on some things. Getting another’s perspective does help me avoid tunnel vision.