Enduring Through Ministry
By Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Prepare Now for Greater Hardships
“Now, get the picture. Jeremiah, if it’s hard for you right now in a time of relative ease and peacefulness, you need to know that much harder tests await you. Days are coming in comparison with which your present trials will appear as days of ease and peace. You must prepare now for much greater hardships and heartaches. Today will seem like a foot race when you encounter the horses, like a safe, secure place when you find yourself in the jungle. What you have in front of you is not a future of ease and peacefulness and relaxation and applause and popularity. What you have in front of you are hardships, disappointments, trials, discouragements, demands, unexpected surprises, and even, humanly speaking, some tragedies.”
Refuse to Turn Your Congregation’s Ears from the Truth
“‘They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires’ (2 Timothy 4:3). You can start a church like that. You can start a church where you give people their desire and that church will grow. It’ll fill. People want that nowadays. You can entertain, and they’ll come to see the show, but ‘they really will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths’ (2 Timothy 4:4).”
Endure in Ministry
“Because throughout your ministry, there’ll be periods where you’ll think, That’s it. I’m going to quit. And I don’t want you to do that. More importantly, the Lord doesn’t.”
God Will Give You What You Need
“I won’t take the time to develop the context of his world, but it was dreadful. It was awful. He has heard from the Lord and he is encouraged to know that the Lord is going to give him what he needs. He’s going to look past his youth. He’s going to see beyond his inability to stand and deliver. He’s going to prepare him. He’s going to rescue him. He’s going to deliver him. He’s going to use him.”
Maturity Over Age
“The point is your age means nothing. It’s your maturity that will hold you in good stead with those to whom you minister. They will quickly forget your age or they’ll look past it.”
Additional Resources
First, sign up for our Chuck’s Insights on Ministry email where we bring you his best thoughts on preaching, leadership, and ministry each week. By signing up, you’ll instantly receive a one-page checklist with 20 preaching insights from Chuck. See this page’s sidebar.
Second, check out our new Preach The Word articles and video series on YouTube where we’re teaching Chuck’s best insights on this important calling.
Third, listen to Chuck’s messages to those in ministry through our Seminary Chapels page. For decades, he offered students at Dallas Theological Seminary his best thoughts on church leadership and ministry. Now, we have put them at your finger tips. Also, you can find them through this YouTube playlist we created for you.
Fourth, if you don’t own a copy of Chuck’s book on preaching, Saying It Well, we highly recommend you add it to your library. It’s his preaching memoir that is also like a practical preaching manual. You won’t be able to put it down.
About the author
Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading program in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry.
