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Pastor, the mission God has given you isn’t easy. Ministry is filled with delayed answers, slow progress, and seasons that test your endurance. When you’re discouraged, your vision blurs. That's why learning to resist discouragement is absolutely essential for finishing the race God has set before you.Discouragement may feel like it just happens to you—but it’s more than a feeling. It’s a choice. And with God’s help, you can choose a different path. Here are five truths to help you keep moving forward in faith, even when your situation feels unfair.1. Discouragement is one of Satan’s greatest tools.If Satan can’t get you to procrastinate on your mission, he’ll try to get you to quit altogether. Discouragement neutralizes leaders. It’s the opposite of faith. When you say, “It can’t be done,” you’re no longer trusting what God has already said he will do.Galatians 6:9 says: “Let’s not get tired of doing what is good” (Galatians 6:9 NLT). That’s hard sometimes, because the right thing is rarely the easy thing. But that’s the kind of perseverance that God honors and uses.2. Discouragement is always a choice.It might not feel like it, but you can choose what you focus on. Will you focus on your problems or your purpose? On your weakness or God’s power?You can’t always control what happens around you, but you can control what you think about. Discouragement begins with discouraging thoughts—and those thoughts can be replaced.As Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (NKJV). Faith starts with optimism. And that optimism isn’t naivety, but trust that God is still at work even when you don’t see it.3. Endurance turns ordinary people into great ones.Great people aren’t born—they’re shaped through persistence. Think about a sculptor chiseling stone. The first strike of the hammer doesn’t reveal a masterpiece. It takes repeated effort. That’s how God shapes your life too—slowly, steadily, through faithful steps of obedience.Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. You need spiritual endurance to keep going when you feel like giving up. When you feel like quitting, remember this: You’re not a failure until you quit.4. God’s delays are not his denials.Maybe you’re praying for something and it still hasn’t happened. That doesn’t mean God has said no—it might just mean “not yet.”In the Living BIble paraphrase, Habakkuk 2:3 says, “These things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!”At Saddleback, we waited 13 years without a building of our own. But God had a better plan—one that wasn’t even visible when we started. That’s true for your ministry, too. Be patient. God is never late.5. God tests your patience to grow your faith.Spiritual maturity means learning the difference between a “no” and a “not yet.” God doesn’t test you so he can learn something new—he tests you so you can learn something new. He wants to reveal your commitment and his faithfulness in the process.You won’t be tested just once. You’ll be tested over and over again—not to discourage you, but to build endurance in you. And you can take it. Why? Because God is with you. He will strengthen you.Don’t give up!You may feel like you’re at the end of your rope. But you’re not alone. God is with you—and he’s not finished with you.Don’t drop out of the race. Keep pressing forward. Resist discouragement and finish what God called you to do.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”  (Philippians 4:7 CSB).“When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19 CSB).Pastor, do you ever wake up on a Monday feeling like you’ve got nothing left to give?Maybe you poured yourself into yesterday—preaching, praying, shepherding, listening, encouraging, planning—and now you’re empty. Worn out. Maybe even wondering if what you gave made any difference at all.You’re not alone.The disciples knew what that felt like. After Jesus' crucifixion, they gathered in a locked room—defeated, discouraged, and scared. They weren’t strategizing or stepping into bold faith. They were hiding.But then Jesus showed up.He didn’t knock. He didn’t wait for them to get it together. He came right through the locked doors and stood in the middle of their fear. His first words? “Peace be with you” (John 20:19 CSB).Not shame.Not correction.Not disappointment.Just peace.Jesus didn’t say, “Where were you when I needed you?” He didn’t give them a lecture. He gave them himself.And he does the same for you, pastor.He’s not waiting for you to be stronger. He’s not disappointed in your weariness. He’s already with you, ready to refill what ministry has poured out. His peace isn’t a feeling—it’s a presence. And it’s for you, right now.The Bible promises, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”  (Philippians 4:7 CSB).So take a deep breath today. Rest in this truth: Jesus hasn’t left you. He’s with you—behind the locked doors, in the Monday fatigue, in the questions and in the quiet.You are not alone.Jesus came to his disciples when they were at their lowest. He’ll come to you, too. He already has.May his peace fill you again this week, and may you minister from the overflow of his presence.

The Christmas season can be one of the most painful periods of the year for many people. Sure, it’s full of joy and celebration, but it’s also full of heartache.It can be tough, even for pastors. If you lost someone this year, that empty space at the table will look much bigger during this season. Or painful Christmas experiences from your past may still linger and weigh you down.Add that to all the busyness of the Christmas season in our churches, and you’re not alone if you find ministry particularly tough this time of year.But never forget—God never wastes a hurt. God will often turn your deepest struggles, even during the Christmas season, into profound opportunities to serve and help others who are struggling.But you’ll have to be open and honest about that pain—and that’s tough.Paul regularly turned pain in his life into ministry opportunities. He once wrote, “[God] comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble” (2 Corinthians 1:4 CEV).God has a purpose for our pain. It trains us for ministry in a way seminary or Bible college simply can’t.You have congregants hurting right now. Some people you shepherd have lost a spouse or a child this year. This Christmas they’ll have a person missing from the holiday table. It’ll be the toughest Christmas of their life. And they may never open up about this experience to anyone. Others are facing their first Christmas sober. It’s taking every bit of strength they have to avoid their drug of choice.Pastor, God can use your struggles to bring them hope—whether that’s through your preaching, sitting with someone at the hospital, or sharing a cup of coffee.But you must be open and honest, even when it’s scary. Your authenticity encourages the people you lead to be open and honest about their own struggles.Here are some ways you can let God use your pain to help others this Christmas.Share how God got your attention through pain. Pain is often a wakeup call. C.S. Lewis once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasure, but he shouts to us in our pain.” Pain is God’s megaphone. The parable of the prodigal son shows us this. Everything was going great in the prodigal son’s life until suddenly they weren’t. The Bible says when pain came, the prodigal son “came to his senses” (Luke 15:17 CEV).I’m guessing you’ve had times in your past when you came to your senses after experiencing pain. When you share those experiences, you help people’s eyes to be opened to what God is trying to say to them. Share what God taught you with the pain.Pain is one of the best teachers. God uses it to help us grow up in our faith. Our pain teaches us to depend upon God, to trust his Word, and to see how much we need others.In Psalm 119, David describes how God used pain to help him trust and obey God’s Word. He writes, “I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word” (Psalm 119:67 NLT). You have people in your church who need to hear that story from your life. They need to know what God taught you in those dark days— because they need to apply those lessons to their own lives.Share how God brought good out of your pain.God brings good out of pain all the time, but you rarely can see it while you’re in the middle of the pain. But once you realize it, this new perspective will change everything.As much as anyone who ever lived, Paul realized that not every situation he faced had a happy ending on this side of eternity. He knew pain and loneliness in his ministry (2 Corinthians 11:24-28), but he also knew God used his suffering for good. People came to faith in Jesus because of his time in prison (Philippians 1:12). In Romans 8:28, he writes from experience, “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (NLT).Again, you usually can’t see this while you’re in the middle of the painful season, but you can from the other side.Be ready to talk about how God has brought good out of your pain. If you experienced that Christmas season when you were out of money, describe to those you’re shepherding what it was like when God met your needs. Show them what you learned about God during those lonely seasons of your life. They need to hear how God showed up in your pain. Share how Jesus gave you hope in the middle of your pain.When people are in pain, they need hope to cope. Whether that pain is in their family, their finances, their work, or somewhere else, they need to know they won’t be alone.God never promises us a life free of pain. But he does promise to always be there for us. We never have to go through pain by ourselves.That’s the hope of the gospel. More people will be open to hearing the hope of the gospel during this season than at any other time of the year.When you meet people in pain this Christmas, help them see how the baby in the manger became the crucified Lord who gives us hope in our pain. We’ve all been through painful seasons in our lives. Don’t waste that pain. Let it help others this Christmas season.

Pastor, you need a shepherd.  Yes, God has called you to shepherd others. The very term of pastor literally means shepherd.  But you’re not just called to shepherd others. God wants you to be shepherded, too. You have a world of worries in your lap. You have a congregation to lead and a family to care for. Every week, people entrust you with their pain.  You need someone you can trust to calm your worries. You need other people in your life to whom you can unload your struggles. But more than anything else, you need to let Jesus shepherd you.A shepherd feeds, leads, and meets needs. That’s the good shepherd Jesus describes in Psalm 23— and the ultimate antidote to the worries you face in ministry.  King David starts the most famous chapter in the Bible with these words: “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing” (Psalm 23:1 NIV). That’s the shepherd all of us need. Worries inevitably come when we put our security in something other than God. Even as we preach the opposite, we can do this all the time as pastors. We trust in the growth of our church, in the kind words of our congregation, and in the regularities of our routines. But all of those can be taken away from us. You can’t lose your relationship with God. Paul reminds us of the basis of his provision in Philippians 4:19: “My God will richly fill your every need in a glorious way through Christ Jesus” (GWT). God’s provision doesn’t depend on anything you’ve done. It doesn’t depend upon your magnetic personality, your preaching prowess, or your relationship with your congregants.  Because of what Jesus did for you on the cross, you don’t have to do good or be good to receive the goodness of God.  So, what does God’s provision as your shepherd mean for you as a pastor? God doesn’t want you to worry about anything. Let that sink in for a minute. You don’t need to worry about anything. If you have any doubt about that, Jesus gives us five reasons why we don’t need to worry in the Sermon on the Mount. Worry is unreasonable. Jesus says our worry makes no sense. “So I tell you, don’t worry about the food or drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes” (Matthew 6:25 NCV).Jesus reminds us we usually worry about the wrong things—issues that won’t matter in a year, much less for eternity and issues that we can’t change anyway. Worry is unnatural. “Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns” (Matthew 5:25 NCV). Human beings are the only thing God created that worries. Animals don’t worry. Trees don’t worry. Rocks don’t worry. Only Christians who are rebelling against God worry. God didn’t create us to worry. Worry is unhelpful. “You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it” (Matthew 6:27 NCV). Worry doesn’t work. It won’t make your preaching better. It won’t bring any new people to your church. It certainly won’t add any more time to your life. In fact, it may shorten your life.  Worry is unnecessary. “God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So you can be even more sure that God will clothe you” (Matthew 6:30 NCV). You can be sure God will take care of you because he has promised to do so. The Lord is your shepherd. He feeds, leads, and he meets needs. Those promises are just as relevant to you as they are to the people you shepherd.  Worry is unbelief. “Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these” (Matthew 6:32 NCV). Every time you worry, you’re acting like an unbeliever. When you do that, you’re showing a poor testimony toward nonbelievers and those you’re leading in the church.  You don't have to go the rest of your life being a worrywart. Anything you can learn, you can also unlearn. That includes worrying. But it starts with this. Ask Jesus—every morning— to be your shepherd. Expect him to do what he has promised—to feed, lead, and meet your needs. Paul knew what it was like to have needs (2 Corinthians 11:27-28). But Paul writes in Philippians, “At the moment I have all I need—more than I need! … It is [God] who will supply all your needs from his riches in glory because of what Christ Jesus has done for us.” (Philippians 4:18-19 TLB). The same God who met all of Paul’s needs will meet yours as well.