Pastor, You Can Endure: 5 Reminders For When Ministry Is Hard

I’ve met a few people who walked across the United States. It would be easy for me to start a journey like that tomorrow, but I’d also quit tomorrow. Starting is easy. Endurance is the hard part.

The same is true for pastoral ministry. I’ve been in ministry for more than 20 years now. I’ve been discouraged, disappointed, and tired. I’ve scrolled through job postings, played out scenarios in my head of a different life, and brushed up my résumé. I’ve been hurt and wondered if it wouldn’t be better to move on. I’ve seen friends leave ministry and I’ve wondered if I was a fool for staying.

If you’re a pastor, you’ve been there. At some point, we all will be. To endure in ministry, we must face the difficulty honestly while also pursuing God’s gifts of joy. We can neither deny the challenges nor be so fixated on them that we lose heart. What does this involve?

1. Remember ministry is supposed to be hard.

Expectations shape our experience. No boxer would quit a match in the first round because getting punched hurts. Boxers expect to be punched. Pastors should have similar expectations. Think of the words Scripture uses for ministry: fighting and racing (2 Tim. 4:7), soldiering (2:4), warring (1 Tim. 1:18), struggling (Col. 2:1), building (1 Cor. 3:9), planting (3:6), laboring (15:58), even dying (2 Cor. 4:11–12). Ministry isn’t described as an easy dream job with a great work-life balance. It’s hard.

All ministry engages joy and sorrow, victory and defeat, partnership and betrayal, transformation and apostasy. As Jesus described in the parable of the sower, when God’s perfect Word is sown, we may only see lasting results with a small percentage of people.

Faithfulness will feel frustrating at times. We’ll work our hardest and there will still be work unfinished. As Os Guinness says, “The best and highest of our human endeavors usually have a single word written over them—incomplete.” To endure, we need the right expectations about the work we’ve been called to. Don’t sugarcoat the hard. Don’t deny the punches. Face it honestly.

2. Believe that every second matters.

You may have no problem acknowledging the difficulty of ministry.  Maybe you’re wondering if it’s worth it. Without results, endurance is hard. It can feel like nothing changes or makes a difference. After all the sermons, meetings, and planning, we’re tempted to ask, “What’s the point?”

To endure, we need the right expectations about the work we’ve been called to. Don’t sugarcoat the hard. Don’t deny the punches. Face it honestly.

God knows we’re tempted this way, so he reminds us, “In the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). Every Sunday school class taught, every devotional with your kids, every prayer for a friend, and every sermon (even if only preached to 50 people) is eternally valuable. Not a second is wasted.

Jesus has won, and he’ll one day rule in complete victory. If we’re with him, we’re on the winning side, which means all we do matters. That may have been hard for early Christians to believe when they saw massive temples to false gods around them. It may be hard for you to believe. But where are the temples of Rome and Greece now? They’re but museums and ruins while the gospel moves onward across the globe.

So we embrace our calling, steward our gifts, and play our small part with the joy of knowing victory is certain on God’s team.

3. Find the stories.

Even if we believe our ministry matters, it’s still easy to grumble and be discontent. What are the problems in your church right now? What needs to be fixed? Who’s not getting it? We find these questions too easy to answer. Our minds quickly focus and fixate on what’s wrong.

There’s a scene in the WWII series Band of Brothers where after years of witnessing war’s carnage, the soldiers get tired and cynical. Then they come upon a concentration camp and liberate the prisoners. The band sees what the difficulty has been for. The episode is called “Why We Fight.” To endure, we need the joy that comes from being reminded of the why. We need to see where God is freeing captives and bringing transformation.

The apostle John says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4). Know that Jesus is active in your church. The Holy Spirit is changing people. Ask God to increase your joy by showing you where. At my church, we typically open our leadership and members’ meetings by asking folks to share where they’ve seen God at work in and through our church. Hearing testimonies of God’s work fills us with joy and spurs us on.

4. Have fun with your friends.

Pastors need times that aren’t focused on ministry. Paul often writes about friends who refreshed him (e.g., 1 Cor. 16:17–18; Rom. 15:32). Pastors can easily forget that one of the ways God intends to sustain you is through the joys of friendship.

Recently, I spent a couple of hours bowling and playing at the arcade with friends. In that moment, we needed hang-out time more than another conference, podcast, or ministry conversation. Some of my favorite times in ministry have been sitting around the fire laughing till late hours with friends as we poke fun at each other, share funny videos and memes we saw online, and tell stories of where we find humor in the difficulties of ministry. I’ve sat in those same circles as we’ve bared our souls, prayed for healing, and encouraged one another through failures and sin. But if it was only ever somber, we wouldn’t keep coming back.

Sometimes what we most need to endure in ministry is to take a trip to the mountains or, like Jesus, to go out on a boat with our friends. Sometimes what’s most sustaining is just going to a party to feast, laugh, and tell stories.

5. Withdraw to be with God.

Even with the best of friends, the right expectations, and a fruitful ministry, we won’t last if we aren’t connecting with God. But many pastors find it easier to do the Lord’s work than to be in the Lord’s presence. We find it easier to teach about the Lord than to listen to him. We find it easier to live as soldiers than as sons.

Many pastors find it easier to do the Lord’s work than to be in the Lord’s presence.

We won’t endure without the strength that comes from abiding with Jesus. Paul tells us his secret to ministry endurance: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). God strengthens us as we pour our hearts out to him in prayer and as we hear his voice in his Word. Then the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Before going to the cross, Jesus prayed in the garden. His pattern was that in the middle of his busy ministry commitments, he’d “withdraw to desolate places and pray” (Luke 5:16). How much more do we need to do the same?

Pastor, ministry is hard. It’s OK to admit it. But don’t give up; don’t quit; don’t leave. You’ve started, and you can finish. God will strengthen and empower you. Receive the joys he gives and endure (2 Tim. 2:10).