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 When you want to quit, what do you do? |
J W Buckaroo |
| I have been in ministry for 36 years. I have been pastoring my current church for almost 10 years. Lately, I have been longing to quit. I know some of you must have felt the same at some point. What did you do to get over this feeling? Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. |
Friendly Face
Posts: 145
6/13/22 6:50 pm
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| Some thoughts.... |
Aaron Scott |
We all want God to give us a clear message about matters. He almost never does. Instead, He uses circumstances and feelings and the such to direct us.
For Elijah, He apparently had to make the brook run dry (He had TOLD Elijah, but Elijah didn't go until the brook dried up.)
We have to be very careful to distinguish whether the LORD is telling us to stay...or that is just our training/discipline to keep going in hard times.
If you have prayed about matters, if you cannot get a specific word from God, THEN GO (OR STAY) IN FAITH, knowing that like Abraham, God will bless you no matter what way you go.
Also, I think it is important that, if you have a spouse, you consult them. They have skin in the game also. Sometimes they can see what you cannot.
But, granted, it is difficult to leave the more active role of pastoring for a quieter, more subdued role. But you may be the answer to some pastor's prayer for someone with knowledge and skill to help him navigate.
My dad and Ralph Dillard and some others were such men to me. |
Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology
Posts: 6042
6/14/22 10:32 am
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| Re: Some thoughts.... |
Carolyn Smith |
| Aaron Scott wrote: | We all want God to give us a clear message about matters. He almost never does. Instead, He uses circumstances and feelings and the such to direct us.
For Elijah, He apparently had to make the brook run dry (He had TOLD Elijah, but Elijah didn't go until the brook dried up.)
We have to be very careful to distinguish whether the LORD is telling us to stay...or that is just our training/discipline to keep going in hard times.
If you have prayed about matters, if you cannot get a specific word from God, THEN GO (OR STAY) IN FAITH, knowing that like Abraham, God will bless you no matter what way you go.
Also, I think it is important that, if you have a spouse, you consult them. They have skin in the game also. Sometimes they can see what you cannot.
But, granted, it is difficult to leave the more active role of pastoring for a quieter, more subdued role. But you may be the answer to some pastor's prayer for someone with knowledge and skill to help him navigate.
My dad and Ralph Dillard and some others were such men to me. |
God didn't speak to Elijah to go to Zarephath until the brook dried up. The brook dried up due to the natural course of nature. No rain, no brook. But the brook was only Elijah's source of provision for a season. He didn't whine or complain because the brook dried up. He went in faith to find the widow in Zarephath (which was quite a distance away.)
I think it's important for you to discern if this longing to quit is from the Lord or your flesh (being tired or discouraged.) As you pray, listen to which answer you feel peace about.
There are different seasons in life, and it's important to be able to recognize them. Ask the Lord to make it clear to you which direction is best for you at this time in life. If you don't feel a clear direction either way, I would say keep pressing on where you are.
A minister friend of mine shared that his dad pastored for many years and at every church, he would reach a place of discontentment and feeling like he wasn't being effective or maybe his time there was up. And he said that most every time his dad left right before the breakthrough or the fruit of his labors flourished. Be sure this isn't the case.
TD Jakes shared a clip on Facebook about him going through such a period of wanting to quit the ministry, and he couldn't get away from that feeling. One night after the service, a lady was waiting to talk with him. He tried to wait her out but she stayed a long time, waiting for him to return. He finally talked to her, and she reminded him of a night he had prayed with her years before, and the Lord healed her. She had had an ectopic pregnancy and almost died, but things turned around for her after he prayed for her.
On the night she talked him, he said he would have never recognized her because she looked so different but immediately remembered praying for her years earlier. She said to him, "It's not for you - what you do in the ministry - it's for us. It's for the people that you are ministering to that you are doing this." He said it broke him, and he cried all the way back to his hotel. He said he would have quit the ministry if it hadn't been for her.
You never know how what you're doing might affect one person's life. Listen to the Lord...
_________________
"More of Him...less of me."
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Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology
Posts: 5923
6/15/22 9:43 pm
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Quiet Wyatt |
Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. NASB
Besides making sure I am getting enough rest, exercise and proper nutrition, in my experience it all comes down to what I’m looking at—either I’m looking to Jesus the One who goes before me, or I’m looking at the world, my problems, or myself. |
[Insert Acts Pun Here]
Posts: 12817
6/16/22 7:36 am
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Preacher777 |
| The main way I fight discouragement is to keep an eternal perspective. If I consider and expect the rewards to be daily, monthly and in this lifetime I cannot always convince myself it would be worth it to stay in the ministry. However, If we look at the Bible those who suffered for God looked beyond their natural lives for encouragement and motivation. |
Friendly Face
Posts: 434
6/16/22 8:16 am
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