In episode 27 we talked about pastoring through dry seasons, and Pastor John, as a pastor, how did you deal with seasons when you did not feel joy in God, and yet you were preparing to enter the pulpit and preach to your people about joy in God? Did you ever feel the need to disclose your personal condition in those sermons, or did you just preach confidently knowing that it's God's ever-relevant Word?

How did you approach the pulpit in spiritually dry seasons? The principle I would use, then I'll tell you the actuality, the principle I would use is be real with your people. Don't fake it. Don't ever fake it. They'll see through that pretty quick, and your own conscience will condemn you.

That doesn't mean that you always need to say every hard thing you've dealt with during the week. It just may mean you need to say, "There was a text appointed for today, and I wasn't able to do it," or "This text is appointed for today. I want you to know I don't feel the fullness of this text, but I'm going to tell you what this text says, and you pray for me, and I'll pray for you." You can say things like that, but my experience, Tony, is simply astonishing.

In all the depression, discouragement, and blankness that I have felt over the years, the Lord has always lifted it enough so that as I've gotten ready for Sunday, I've loved what I'm about to say. It's just uncanny how on Thursday--I used to take Thursdays off, and some of those Thursdays off were just the lowest days.

They were just low days, and I remember saying in Desiring God, I would sit in Nokomis Park on the grass, and I couldn't even remember my kids' names. I was so discouraged. And by Sunday morning, I was able to love what I was saying and say it. So God has simply been very good to me in terms of the cycles of my struggles.

So if a pastor is not feeling joy in God, he's not delighting in God and his preparations, you say just press in, keep pressing into the text, don't give up? Yes. I mean, there are more things that you can do. There are 15 things at least that I mentioned.

He may need to get up from his desk, close his books, and take a long walk by a lake. That's maybe what he needs to do. Or he may need to get on the phone and apologize for a sin he committed, or he may need to get a good night's sleep.

I mean, there's just lots of things. If I were to be a spiritual counselor for some wounded pastor, I wouldn't just say, "Read your Bible more, keep your nose in the text." I would probe into this man's life and look at him as a body and a soul and a spirit and try to discern all the factors that might be going into making him depressed or discouraged.

Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for listening to this podcast. Send your questions to us via email at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. Please include your first name and your hometown. You can find thousands of other free resources from John Piper online at desiringgod.org. I'm your host Tony Reinke, thanks for listening.