Category Archives: Ministry Focus & Equipping

We’ve already looked at how ministry perseverance is the staying power to keep serving with patient endurance no matter what difficulties we face. We have so many things that can come against us in ministry that could bring discouragement, frustration, fear, stress, or a general sense of being overwhelmed.

• Disgruntled Ministry Workers
• Two Kinds of Sensitive: The Healthy Kind
• Two Kinds of Sensitive: The Unhealthy Kind

Ministry Troubles Needing Ministry Perseverance

Because our settings vary, as well as the people we serve, we can’t begin to provide an exhaustive list of troubles we might face in ministry. What feels like a hardship to one person might seem insignificant to the next because of our different personalities, giftedness, backgrounds, training, and so forth.

Here are some common problems we might face along with some articles that might help. For some broad perspectives of what we all need to persevere in these situations, order the Ministry God’s Way Discipleship Tool. That resource looks at nine different key elements involved in doing ministry God’s way with ministry perseverance being one of the elements.

Circumstances

• God, Greater Than All That Pertains to You
• Let’s Rise Above
• Ministry Troubles: Circumstances Beyond Your Control
• Ministry Troubles: Unexpected Change
• Correct Ministry Problems But Seek to Prevent When Possible

Conflict

• Attitude Toward Those Who Do Us Wrong
• Church Leadership Skill: Conflict Management
• Everybody makes mistakes. — How about a little grace?
• Ministry Troubles: Conflict
• Variety of Articles on Church Conflict

Lacking the resources

• Finances & The Way the Church Functions
• Difficult Times for the Church, Financially
• Ministry Troubles: Financial Hardships

Needy people

• Ministry Troubles: People’s Personal Problems

Resistance or criticism

• Obstacles in Becoming More Purposeful: Fleshly Resistance & Conflicts
• Hindrance of Resistance in Pursuing & Fulfilling God’s Purposes

Spiritual warfare

• Too Hard to Make It Through Life Without Peace – Part 5
• Strength for Spiritual Battles
• Biblical Principles for Spiritual Battles
• Obstacles in Becoming More Purposeful: Resistance in the Spiritual Realm

Time constraints and the busyness of life

• Prioritized Schedules: The Number One Priority
• Prioritized Schedules: The Second Priority
• Disciple-Making Schedules
• Sustainable Schedules
• Accountable Schedules
• Spiritually Productive Schedules
• Hindrances to Spiritual Productivity
• Effects of Our Personal Busyness on Church Life
• More Time Management Resources

Unfair or abusive treatment

• All Sorts of People in the Church
• Ministry Isn’t Always Fair!
• 5 Signs Ministry Leadership Has Turned Abusive
• 5 Signs Ministry Leadership Has Turned Christ-like

So much can come against us as we serve the Lord. How are we supposed to persevere? To be sure, some people will outwardly keep going by sheer will, perhaps feeling too guilty or ashamed to quit. But, inwardly they’ve given in to the frustration and despair. God, however, wants so much more for us as His servants. He instructs us, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Rom. 12:11-12).

To Persevere in Serving We Need the Right Source to Sustain and Strengthen Us

Only an eternal, omnipresent God will always be there. Only a great and almighty God will be strong enough to uphold and deliver us. Only a faithful God will stay true to us, even when we’re faithless (2 Tim. 2:13). Only a holy God can be trusted to be right all the time. Only a sovereign, omniscient God can give us the perspective we need.

• Because God is . . .
• Studying the Character of God Helps Us in Ministry
• Tapping into the Riches of God’s Knowledge

We can look at Moses of the Old Testament for an example. God called him to lead an impatient and stubborn group of people through the harsh conditions of a wilderness journey. Though wanting to give up on numerous occasions, we read that “he persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27). This is the kind of faith we need to persevere, not one that looks only at what we can see but one that focuses on our invisible yet very powerful and compassionate God.

The Ministry God’s Way Discipleship Tool lists four points about looking to God for what we need in order to persevere. That resource covers nine key elements to doing ministry God’s way, with ministry perseverance being one of those elements.

When we start talking about the need to persevere in ministry, it implies something isn’t quite going right. Let’s be honest, we tend to want God to make ministry easy, convenient, comfortable, and problem-free. Yet, God never promised perfect circumstances.

Jesus told us to expect problems in this world (Jn. 16:33). In an upcoming post we’ll look at some of the troubles we can expect in ministry. (Subscribe to be notified of new posts.) To be overcomers in ministry, we need to learn to persevere.

Ministry Perseverance is Staying Power

The word for perseverance in the New Testament Greek, hypomone, comes from the word “hupo” meaning under, and “meno” meaning to abide or remain. So, the literal definition of perseverance is remaining under. That’s staying power — patient endurance and steadfastness.

In short, ministry perseverance deals with being sustained and strengthened to keep serving no matter what we face or how we feel.

In addition to defining perseverance, the Ministry God’s Way Discipleship Tool points to the truth that God’s goal for persevering isn’t just to survive but to thrive. It also looks at some of the hardships we might face in ministry and what’s needed to persevere.