There are times when it is God’s will to sideline servants He calls. While they had hopes of a ministry of significance (In their mind. You know… Big Congregation, being well known, in demand, on committees, etc.), God’s plan for them has been otherwise. The minister hoped to ride a wave of God’s blessings but instead found themselves in a cave of despair and perceived uselessness. Such a situation is made worse when they caught a wave or two in their life only to have had it  eventually crush them.

How does a minister… or anyone for that matter… process such a life trajectory? I have a few thoughts that might be worth considering. These are not from an ivory tower but from personal experience, meditation, and reflection.

First, God is God and can do whatever He desires. Remember Job’s words in Chapter 13 verse 15, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him…” I doubt either the one writing this, or any who read it, have or ever will experience Job’s life events (Job 1:13-19; 2:7-8). Embracing this truth from the heart, regardless of circumstances, is essential for a vibrant faith in the midst of difficulty. To question God is to doubt Him, His wisdom, and love for us. As it is written in 1 Peter 5:6-8… “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” Regardless of what happens to us, God NEVER puts or allows ANYTHING into the lives of His children that is not best for them!

Ro 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?”

The point is that since God did not keep back from His children THE most important thing to Him (His Son Jesus), then neither will He hold back anything else that is good for them! Just because we don’t see how something can be good doesn’t mean it isn’t good. With God being good and loving, only things that are good and loving will He allow or place in the life of a believer.

Second, others have been where you are and worse and God did not abandon them (Mt 5:11-12; 1 Cor 10:13a). Not only that, after their time of difficulty (And sometimes failure!), God still used them mightily. Consider…

Moses fled Egypt to the backside of Midian for 40 years…

Elijah ran from Jezebel because she promised to kill him…

Jonah in the belly of a fish for three days…

David fled from Saul who was trying to kill him (OT)…

Saul in the desert for three years (NT)…

All the Apostles were killed, except John who was exiled to Patmos to die…

Steven preached one message and was stoned to death for it (Acts 7)…

Paul suffered extensively because he followed Christ (2 Cor 11:23-29!)…

Jesus was three days in the desert… constantly opposed… then nailed to a cross.

Then there are these words written to followers of Christ…

2 Tim 3:12 All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…

Mt 10:21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Mt 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?

Mt 23:34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town

Mk 10:29 There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

Last, I have observed that those who are indeed in Christ Jesus have a view on life that is decidedly Bible based. They are “Sorrowful yet always rejoicing.” They look not to this world for joy but rather the next, where Jesus is.

The life of a believer (Minister or not), when lived for God’s glory under His providence is not easy. For the believer is hard… difficult… and many times full of tribulation. But there is hope that cannot be defeated! The genuine Christian will have a world view not beaten down by the Adversary nor temporal events. Believers are joyfully willing to endure 70-80 or so years of difficult for…

70 Billion Trillion Million plus years (Eternity) of everything they could ever desire and more from God.

The time when God looks them in the eye and says (Mt 25:2), “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

When the end of this life comes to be able to say like Paul in 2 Tim 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

My personal word for the one struggling (Minister or not) is to meditate on God’s Truth (Start with the verses and passages above). Then, pray regularly taking all your anxieties, worries, and pain to Jesus because He cares for you. Worship often by yourself AND with other believers. Persevere! Keep looking for Jesus. Never quit. Never give up…