"Every pastor I know has, at one point, wrestled with the question, “Is THIS really worth it?” I will admit that I’ve had that thought more than once in my ten year journey as the pastor of NewSpring Church. There are days when I feel like I can conquer the world…and then there are others where I feel the world has conquered me.
If you are a pastor then I know you’ve been there…
- You feel like the sermon was horrible.
- You had a staff member go south on you.
- You lose sleep at night while you wrestle through a decision.
- People lie about you (or tell half truths, same thing really!)
- The critics take shots at you.
- The level of spiritual warfare in your life increases.
- You feel inadequate to do the job most days.
- You experience being lonely on a level that very few people can understand.
I could go on and on…but you get the point. In the past 10 years in being the pastor of this church I’ve experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. AND…yes, I have caught myself asking the question many times, “Is it really worth all of this?”
And EVERY TIME God speaks to me and says, “YES!” Hey pastor…if He called you then He has equipped you and will sustain you! He is WITH YOU and will NEVER leave you. HE is SO worth it!
Yesterday was one of those days for me…Jesus completely overwhelmed me and reminded me that following Him has been worth it. Yes, there is a price to pay in ministry…but it is NOWHERE near the price the ONE we follow paid for us!
It’s worth it!
And…as Jesus was drawing people to Himself yesterday during the invitation I kept thiniking to myself, “I am SO GLAD that I haven’t quit or given up on the vision God gave me in 1996 to start a church…following Him has not been easy, but it is SO worth it!”
Pastor, God did not call you so that you could prove yourself to Him (and others,) but rather He called you to “prove” His Son to the world! The reason so many of us wrestle with wanting to give up so often is that we feel like we have sometime to prove…
BUT…there is tremendous freedom found in a ministry where the man of God has fully determined that he has nothing to prove and dedicates himself to working for the applause of heaven and NOT the applause of man.
Yes, it’s worth it! So…stay in the game, focus on Christ and beg Him to make His voice so clear to you so that you will know what He wants next!
Don’t EVER give up on the God who has never given up on you! (Philippians 1:6)