5. Remember the Needs of the Particular Church in Which You Serve.
It has become cliche for Christians to say things like, “Don’t think that God needs you for ministry. He can replace you with anyone he wants.” While this is undoubtedly true, it is equally true to say, “While God does not need you for ministry, the church to which you have been called does!”
The apostle Paul told the church in Philippi,
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account (Phil. 1:22-24).
This is one of the keys to contentment in ministry in whatever church in which you serve. Pastors must remember, when they faced ministry challenges, that the Lord has called them—and not another—to minister to the people in this church at this time. Recognizing that God has called you to equip the saints for ministry is a great encouragement to pressing through the challenges of ministry.
6. Remember That You Have Been Called To Suffer.
There is a solidarity that pastors have with the Lord Jesus, the apostles, and other faithful ministers who have suffered before them. The apostles strengthened the members of the early church in the following way: “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
We should not be surprised when trials and challenges come because God has promised that we will suffer. In one of his most astonishing statement, the apostle Paul, told the church in Colosse, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Col. 1:24).
In 2 Corinthians 1:6-7, Paul wrote,
If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
7. Remember That the Goal of Your Ministry Is To Exalt Christ.
The ultimate encouragement to help ministers press through the discouragements they experience when they face trials and challenges is that we were created, redeemed and called into ministry in order to bring glory to Christ. The cry of the ministers heart must ever be, “He must increase, I must decrease.” The ministries to which we have been called by God are not for our own glory.
So often the discouragements that ministers feel are on account of a wrong view of ministry. A wise pastor once told me,
Too often, we think that we will be happy if we can get people to do what is right rather than simply being happy that we are doing what is right in order to bring glory to God. We do so while we recognize that only Jesus can bring about change in the lives of the members of the church or peace in whatever trial or challenge that we face
We exist to bring glory to God through exalting the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we remember these truths and seek to work them into the fabric of our ministries, we will be better prepared to press through the challenges, trials, and discouragement of ministry. When we set our hand to the plow of Christian ministry, we will find that the Lord supplies us with the grace necessary for us to press through and overcome the discouragements that accompany gospel ministry.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
