Not Only Endure in the Ministry

John Miller on endurance in pastoral ministry through repentance and praise:

One thing that can be hard for a pastor is just the enduring. After you are in the pastorate for a decade or more, you begin to see many weaknesses and sins in yourself, many failures in the ministry, and become increasingly aware of the resistance in God’s people to change. As our insights grow, so do our temptations to increase in despair.

As a friend in Christ I would urge you to resist that temptation. Frequently take time to look over the church, your ministry, your family, and give God thanks for each good thing you see. So not only endure in the ministry, but blossom with thankfulness and praise.

Perhaps you have heard me say this before, but I like to think of repentance and praise as allied to each other – both forms of sanity. Repentance is a return to God as my center. Praise is the lifting up of God in honor as my center…What a simple thing it is to humble the heart and return to sanity by repentance and praise. (p.56)