Faithfulness in Ministry – Suffering for our Good
Suffering for Our Good
This month marks four years of my husband serving our church as senior pastor. Four years since I stepped into my mother’s shoes as a pastor’s wife. Four years of getting to know a new group of believers, filling in the gaps of service, cooking for church dinners and funeral meals, and opening our home to others. Four years of sanitizing nursery toys, painting classrooms, cleaning on Saturdays, teaching Sunday school, and serving in children’s ministry. Four years of highs and lows; encouraging Sundays as well as disappointments and hurts.
The more we serve, the more I see the warfare being waged against pastors and their families. You don’t have to look very hard to find a discouraged pastor these days. A quick scroll through the private pastors’ wives Facebook group I’m a part of tells the story of hurting wives praying for hurting husbands, and at times leaving hurtful churches.
In this short season of life, I’ve learned one thing for sure: ministry is hard, and at times you suffer. But praise God I’ve discovered another bit of truth: God is ever-present and redeems even the most difficult days. When we work as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23), it is never in vain. I cling to the truth of Hebrews 6:10 which says, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”
I wonder if you find yourself in this place today. Maybe serving alongside your husband in ministry has been everything you thought it would be, or perhaps, like me, you have discovered difficulties you never expected. Sometimes it can feel as though the church is taking one step forward and two steps back at every turn. Does this mean you have failed? Is it time to call it quits and start over somewhere else? I don’t know your unique situation, but I’m thankful that God has given us many examples of faithfulness throughout the Bible.
One of my favorite examples of perseverance in ministry takes place in Acts 14:19-23, when Paul is stoned at Lystra. Before being stoned, Paul and Barnabas declared the gospel in Antioch where “the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord” (Acts 13:44). Unfortunately, jealous Jews stirred up the crowds and drove the missionaries away to Iconium. In Iconium, they continued to preach the gospel and saw many Jews and Gentiles saved, but again divisions arose, and at the threat of being stoned, they fled to Lystra and Derbe. In Lystra, Paul healed a crippled man and the people marveled, calling he and Barnabas Hermes and Zeus, becoming so excited they offered sacrifices to them.
The same angry Jews from Antioch and Iconium traveled to Lystra and stoned Paul, dragging him outside the city assuming him to be dead. “But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:20-22)
He could have stopped after receiving persecution in Antioch. No one would have blamed him for going home when the Jews and Gentiles in Iconium wanted to stone him. Certainly, people would agree he deserved a break after being stoned and left for dead in Lystra. I imagine some thought he was crazy going back to all of those hostile cities bruised and broken from his last beating, yet continuing to declare the gospel of Christ Jesus. Some still may have advised him to stay away from these areas when he later returned with Silas during his second missionary journey in Acts 16.
However, had he not returned, he likely would have missed meeting one of his closest ministry companions. You see, it was in the town of Lystra during his second missionary journey that Paul met a young disciple named Timothy. God redeemed even Paul’s being beaten almost to death for sharing the gospel in Lystra to change the future of a young man whose mother and grandmother were saved. Timothy became one of Paul’s closest friends and a vital ministry companion. Paul said of Timothy: “You know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.” (Philippians 2:22)
We don’t know the impact our faithfulness through suffering might have on those around us. Ministry is hard, but as believers, we are called to take up our crosses and follow Jesus daily, knowing there will be suffering involved.
I pray we will be pastors’ wives who endure and are faithful, seeking to strengthen the souls of fellow believers and encouraging them to continue in the faith. I also pray the Lord would grant each of us a Timothy in our ministries. Let’s not lose sight of what we have been called to and the kingdom that is to come.
Alli Hill and her husband Gentry live in Poteau, Oklahoma, and have four children. Gentry serves as the Senior Pastor of Poteau First Baptist Church, and Alli serves alongside him in different areas of ministry. She is passionate about teaching women to love and know their Bibles. Both she and her husband were raised in pastors’ homes, and love the local church. They desire to see God’s people live out God’s plan in His world.