Pastoral ministry is difficult and sometimes feels impossible. How can a pastor soldier on through suffering and discouragement? This is the final installment in an 8-part series called Preparing to Lead.

It is estimated that 1,700 pastors leave vocational ministry per month. Perhaps even worse is that almost half of those who haven’t left yet are thinking about doing just that.

So how can a pastor stay in ministry?

Paul gives Timothy insight on this very subject in 2 Timothy 2:8–10. The biblical solution for pastoral perseverance is to do ministry for the people through the faithfulness of Jesus.

For the people

In many ways, remaining on as a pastor in the midst of suffering and discouragement is much like being a faithful father in a struggling home. You stick it out for the sake of your kids.

This is what Paul says to Timothy: “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:8)

Remaining on as a pastor in the midst of suffering and discouragement is much like being a faithful father in a struggling home.

We stay in ministry by remembering who it is we serve and why we serve them. We hang tough for Jesus’ people so that they may see his glory. But what happens when that doesn’t seem to be enough to keep us?

Through the faithfulness of Jesus

Here comes the good news and the bad news.

First, the bad news.

You need more than a good motive to stay the course. Even with a good motive, we still fall short. It’s practically true in every area of our lives, both for pastors and non-pastors alike.

Now, the good news.

You have a means to stick it out in ministry through the discouragement, exhaustion, and fatigue. The means isn’t a principal to apply or a plan to enact. He is a Person to trust, and his name is Jesus.

You need more than a good motive to stay the course.

According to 2 Timothy 2:10, Jesus’ faithfulness keeps the faithless going. Perhaps the reason for this is because he is more committed to your continuity than you are, just as he is more committed to his fame than you are. So if you will trust him with what little strength you have, he will keep you in ministry through his unlimited and unfailing faith.

Perhaps many pastors leave ministry because they have realized they weren’t truly called in the first place. That is actually a good move. You won’t help anyone with perpetuating a poor decision. But for those who are called and wrestle with endurance, keep moving forward for Jesus’ people through Jesus’ power. He is more than able to endure and persevere.