Pain changes us.
And for the child of God, those words can breathe hope and promise. We who believe Romans 8:28 “know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Challenging trials can draw us closer to the Lord in profound ways for which, looking back, we are deeply grateful.
But on a different level, trials can also influence our progression in ministry. On one hand, they can so drive us to Christ that our fruitfulness ultimately increases. And on the other, they can so drive us to questioning and introspection that our entire ministry philosophy changes.
I’ve seen it unfold in both ways—a progression to ineffective ministry and a progression to more effective ministry—time and time again. Here’s how it works:
Progression to Ineffective Ministry
- Serving in awe—New in ministry, all of us are in awe of the opportunity of sharing the gospel and seeing it change lives.
- Struggling in trials—A setback, season of suffering, relational misunderstanding, the immoral choices of others, an abusive relationship, or deep personal disappointment comes into our lives.
- Hurting—We hurt, grieve, and reach for comfort.
- Searching—Sensing our inadequacy to deal with the pain, we question our ministry philosophy or perhaps even doctrine. We wonder if it was a flawed belief system that contributed to the cause or response of our pain. We may even become embittered by the cutting or shallow responses of others who share our current philosophy.
- Realigning—We realign our beliefs and affiliations hoping to avoid future pain.
- Changing—We change our ministry philosophy to match our new beliefs and affiliations, possibly even to gain the approval of our newly-chosen mentors.
- Judging former—We look down on those who invested in us in the past, now esteeming them to be either shallow, unbiblical, or unloving. Unconsciously, we also become unloving and ungraceful toward them…and our capacity and effectiveness in serving others diminishes.
The progression above accounts for far too many cases of pastors making poor ministry choices, changing their doctrinal persuasion, or substantially realigning and shifting their ministry philosophy.
The challenge for all of us is to recognize that during seasons of suffering and disappointment, we are far more vulnerable to introspection and far more prone to unwise decisions. These are the very times when instead of questioning everything we’ve believed, we should go back to God’s Word to anchor our beliefs and convictions more solidly in truth.
Notice how this single difference in response can lead to increased effectiveness in ministry:
Progression to Increased Effectiveness in Ministry
- Serving in awe—New in ministry, all of us are in awe of the opportunity of sharing the gospel and seeing it change lives.
- Struggling in trials—A setback, season of suffering, relational misunderstanding, the immoral choices of others, an abusive relationship, or deep personal disappointment comes into our lives.
- Hurting—We hurt, grieve, and reach for comfort.
- Searching—Sensing our inadequacy to deal with the pain, we go deeper into God’s Word and discover resources of grace we didn’t know existed. We may question our previous assumptions and beliefs, but these questions drive us to Christ and to Scripture and help us sort out assumption from belief.
- Deepening—Our understanding of God, grace, and Scripture deepens, and our capacity to understand other’s pain and bring biblical comfort enlarges.
- Adjusting—Where our own pain has exposed faulty beliefs, assumptions, or philosophies, we adjust. Inasmuch as our previous ministry philosophy was aligned with Scripture, we maintain the whole, but willingly adjust the parts that need realignment.
- Rejoicing—We rejoice in the healing God brings and in the enlarged opportunities for ministry.
The key in both of these scenarios is our response to pain—does it cause us to look within and without (to ourselves and those who failed us), or does it cause us to look up to the only One who can heal us?
Invariably, there will come times in all of our lives when we need to make mid-course adjustments. And often, God allows seasons of pain to set these adjustments in motion.
My encouragement to you is to let the needed adjustments be just that—adjustments, not a complete overhaul of doctrine or ministry philosophy.
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.—1 Peter 5:10
