{"id":846892,"date":"2025-03-13T05:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T10:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=846892"},"modified":"2025-03-12T11:09:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T16:09:23","slug":"when-ministry-unexpectedly-hurts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/when-ministry-unexpectedly-hurts\/","title":{"rendered":"When Ministry Unexpectedly Hurts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve been there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry sometimes feels like a slap in the face, often when you least expect it to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A good friend turns against you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Somebody with more authority makes a decision that affects you negatively.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another leader misinterprets your actions and accuses you of wrong.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One harsh word from another overshadows any good words you\u2019ve heard the same day.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Someone you led to the Lord tells you he\u2019s walking away from his faith.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes doing God\u2019s will still hurts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do you do when that happens?<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li><b>Take your pain to the Lord. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The psalmist is helpful to me here when he expresses his grief to God, as in Psalm 31: \u201cBe gracious to me, Lord, because I am in distress; my eyes are worn out from frustration\u2014my whole being<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as well. Indeed, my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my strength has failed because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away\u201d (Psalm 31:9-10). It\u2019s okay to cry out to God from a wounded soul.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Remember your calling.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I\u2019m <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">so <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">grateful my call to preach was distinct and undeniable for me\u2014so much so that I\u2019ve never been able to shake it. I\u2019ve needed that clarity more than once when I wanted to run in the other direction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Push past the bad to see the good\u2014look for the glimpses of God\u2019s work in your life.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Don\u2019t let the present-tense pain cause you to miss the past-tense and present-tense evidence of God\u2019s grace toward you. Seeing just one good act of God can soften the pain of the bad; a glimpse of God\u2019s glory can go a long way toward healing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Recognize that you\u2019re working with sinners.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In fact, you\u2019re one, too. It\u2019s usually the case that both of us still have room for growth, and neither of us is perfect. Many folks we shepherd have never really been discipled, and they are still childlike\/selfish. Sinful people still act like sinners\u2014but clinging to that truth can help you let go of the pain they cause.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Realize that today\u2019s pain often becomes tomorrow\u2019s memory.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> That is, you may have experienced pain in the past that you thought would never go away\u2014but it did. You felt like you\u2019d always be hurting, always be frustrated\u2014but that didn\u2019t happen. Somehow, God brought you through it in the past\u2014and He will do the same today.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Consider confronting someone if needed, but do it prayerfully and lovingly.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Don\u2019t let someone else\u2019s actions lead to your own sin. Take your pain to God first (see #1 above), rest in His presence first, and then confront another under the leadership of the Spirit. Model Christlikeness in all your thoughts and actions. Even if others don\u2019t always do the same, you need to show them something different.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Trust the sovereign hand of God.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> As I look back over 44 years of ministry, I remember a number of times when the pain of leading God\u2019s people was real\u2014including some times when \u201cthrowing in the towel\u201d seemed to be a viable option. At the same time, though, I simply cannot recall <\/span><b><i>any<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of those times when God did not use it to grow me in Christ. His purpose was always, always, always greater than my pain. I just needed to remember that truth in the moment. Perhaps you do, too.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As I\u2019ve written these words, I\u2019ve also prayed for any Church Answers readers who might be in the middle of pain right now. Know that you\u2019re not alone. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve been there. Ministry sometimes feels like a slap in the face, often when you least expect it to happen. A good friend turns against you. Somebody with more authority makes a decision that affects you negatively. Another leader misinterprets your actions and accuses you of wrong. One harsh word from another overshadows any good&#8230;","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":846894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,183,195,184,175,192,177,191,14796,180,18470,194,196],"tags":[20346,107,19054,20345,19036,20344],"class_list":["post-846892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-communications","category-conflict-and-people-problems","category-discipleship","category-grow","category-how-to","category-lead","category-mind-body-and-spirit","category-monday-wednesday-featured","category-outreach-and-evangelism","category-prayer-grow","category-preaching","category-staff-and-organizational-issues","tag-calling","tag-church","tag-ministry","tag-pain","tag-prayer","tag-when-ministry-unexpectedly-hurts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Ministry Unexpectedly Hurts | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019ve been there. 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