Spirit-Empowered Resolve: How the Holy Spirit helps you fight through frustration in the ministry with His presence, protection, and prevailing power.
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Frustration
Frustration
On Thursday, I had a frustrating day in the ministry. I was working with a couple of young boys at Tending The Vine. Both of these young men have been making silly decisions, and I have spent the bulk of my time trying to encourage them away from foolishness. As I worked with them in my office, both boys made it clear they did not want to be there. My help with their math was met with aggravation, distraction, shoddy compliance, and outright resistance. My patience grew thin when I asked one young man to write a problem on my dry erase board, and he wrote the top number on the board and was about to write the bottom number on my wall.
I asked both boys, “Do we have a pretty good relationship?” Both said, “Sure, I guess so.” Then I asked, “Do you think you are the only one who has a right to be frustrated in our relationship?” I asked them that question because I could tell they were frustrated with me. I was asking a lot of them to, you know, practice math and reading so they can be successful in life. They acted like they were the only ones who could be frustrated. As if I was utterly neutral or oblivious to their resistance.
After a moment, one of the boys says,” Ya, I guess you have the right to be frustrated.” He said in a way that was like,” Ya, but what would you have to be frustrated about?” So I felt obliged to tell him.
I said to him, “I am frustrated with…with you. Good grief, boy! I don’t understand why you have to make it so hard on me to help you. It’s like you haven’t gotten the memo. Every volunteer at TTV is here to help invest in your life now so that when you get older, you will have everything you need to be healthy, happy, and hopefully ina relationship with Christ. So, what’s the prob, Bob? Why do you fight so hard against something good in your life?” He answered, “I don’t know.” Right, par for the course.
Frustration is inevitable in life. You live in a world you don’t control. People make up their own minds. Nature takes its course. Unfriendly circumstances come into your life without permission. Spouses aren’t always faithful. Children don’t always listen, and according to the Fresh Prince of Belair, “Parents just don’t understand.”
In church life, frustration can reach another level of your soul. The things we get frustrated about often deal with eternal matters. Eternity is what we are preparing for today. The work we do here has an everlasting effect in heaven. That means our conversations take on an evangelistic tone. Our relationships have a deeper kingdom-minded meaning. Our life span is not lived in 70 or 80 years, which means our purpose in life is not to build our own kingdom but to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home.
So, when it looks like the kingdom of God is not advancing, it frustrates us. When it feels like you have to grind tooth and nail, to take three steps forward only to get blind-sided and fall four steps backward; that is frustrating. When you pour your heart and soul into people’s eternal good, or you beg and plead with a professing believer to not enagage in sinful lifestyles, just to have them turn on you, fight against you and push you away, and turn away from the gospel- that is frustrating.
What does frustration eveal about you?
What does frustration eveal about you?
Frustration reveals your limitations and unmet expectations. You’re limited in your ability to make things happen. I can preach all day long the wisdom in learning how to read and do the math, but I cannot make that young man’s heart believe it, his mind to receive it, and his will to do it. I don’t have that kind of power over him.
You can teach those 30-40 unchurched kids the bible inside and out, modeling it in your home and community, and sacrificing hours on end to their needs. yet, you have no ability to make one of them believe the good news of Jesus Christ.
You can hand out a thousand tracks a week and have very few, if any, repsond with an open heart. On this side of heaven, that is frustrating.
We also suffer frustration when we are dissatisfied over unmet expectations: like when your spouse does not follow through with a promise. if I want to frustrate my wife to the edge of insanity, all I have to do is tell her I’m goingt to do something, like fix the leaky faucet or hinge the loose door or help her clean the basement, an not follow through with it. Feeling like I blew her off is frustrating to her because she set an expectation, which was reasonable, and I didn’t meet it.
Or how about when your job says you will have weekends off while they’ve worked you the last four Saturdays?
In my short time on earth and in the ministry, I have noticed that there is an ebb and flow to frustration. Life is not always frsutrating. It seems to come in waves.
The Ebb & Flow of Frustration in Ministry
The Ebb & Flow of Frustration in Ministry
Friday morning, I got the privilege of having breakfast with Abigail Lillian. She asked me what my sermon was about this Sunday. Glad she asked, I told her it was about dealing with frustration in the ministry, to which her faced perked up a bit. Abigail understands frustration in the ministry because she has been working one on one with a little girl who struggles to stay focused and receive any instruction for the last three months or so. Abbie has been spit on, hit, defied, and reviled by her almost on a daily basis. Abigail is often frustrated in helping a little girl be successful in school.
I told her that there is an ebb and flow to frustration in ministry. To help her understand, I said to her, “Think about a beach. Your standing on the shoreline, and the waves are hitting the beach, and the water is rushing up to your ankles between your toes. That is the flow of the tide, the waves crashing th shore, rising to your feet. When the water recedes into the ocean, that is the ebb.
In ministry, there is a flow and ebb to frustration. There are days when the flow of the wave of frustration crashes hard, sometimes knocking you over. But God in his mercy always makes sure there is an ebb, a receding of the wave, allowing you to get back up. I think you see this ebb and flow in Paul’s ministry in Corinth in Acts 18:1-17.
Paul starts his ministry with the ebb, the receding of frustration. Leaving chapter 17 behind, Paul leaves the Bereans, who are faithful lovers of scripture which leads them to see Jesus is the Messiah. He enters chapter 18, landing in Corinth
After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
Corinth is a leading city in Greece. It was Athens rival. Corinth was a massive cosmopolitain city and the epicenter of trade and politics for the Mediterranean. Paul is on a mission and sees an opportunity to plant a church.
Things are looking up for Paul because he is introduced to Aquila and Priscilla.
And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,
and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Aquila and Priscilla were like-minded people for Paul. They were likely Jewish Christians (that is debated- but we do know at the very least they become believers Acts 18:18) who are tentmakers by trade. They were forced out of Italy by Claudius because the Jews in the area were causing disturbances or perceived uprisings. It is possible that the disturbances were caused by opposition to Jewish Christians or by Jewish Christians themselves. Luke does not say. But history notes the exile of Jews from Rome.
Paul finds commonality with Aquila and Priscilla as fellow believers and tentmakers. Together they can make enough money to support themselves while Paul tries to reach the Jews in the Synagogueon the weekend.
The ebb lasts a short time before the flow of frustration begins with the Jews.
Paul engages the Jews at Corinth.
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
This was Paul’s typical ministry. He hit up the Jews first on the Sabbath. he did this over several weeks as he waited for Timothy and Silas. When Timothy and Silas showed up, Paul was able to be a full-time missionary again. Luke makes that point in verse five when he says, “Paul was occupied with the word.” He stopped his tent-making so he can testify to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
Something you should note about the Christian faith. The flow of frustration comes as a consequence of preaching the gospel. As long as we live in this world as it is, sinful, broken, with Satan having a degree of power, when you preach the gospel frustration will often follow. It’s becasue we are in a fight with powers and authorities we cannot see that are working hard against the kingdom of God. Revelation speaks of the archangel Michael commanding his armies, fighting against Satan and his demons in Revelation 12:7. Daniel reveals this war has been going on fr thousands of years. Paul says
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
The struggle is real. Where there is struggle there is frustration this side of heaven. Paul is in a fight in the synagogue for teh salvation of his people, and he takes a beating again.
And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.
Paul is used to receiving opposition to the gospel, but their attitude triggers Paul’s frustration. The word used for revile is the word we use for blasphemy. The verb means to speak against someone in such a way as to harm or injure their reputation. They were demeaning and malicious toward Paul’s message. It was vile hostility toward God’s message of salvation for His people.
Their rejection so triggers Paul that he says, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles.” What he means by this is that those who reject the gospel, like his fellow Jews, will be responsible for the consequences they suffer. The shaking of his garment is a sign of rejection, likened to what Jesus said to his disciples when they encountered a community who would not receive them. They were to “shake the dust off their feet” and move on. Tp Paul, at this point, the Jews were no different than unsaved Gentiles. They were cut off from God.
Paul’s frustration is not from a heart of scorn or ahtred. Paul loved his kinsmen. He says in
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
He goes on to say
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
and in
Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
Paul did everything he could to bring his fellow Jews to salvation in Christ, even being willing to suffer on their behalf. He loved his people with God’s love, which is why it hurt him so much and frustrated him when they rejected the gospel. It seems to me Paul’s frustration is a form of exasperated love.
The closest analogy of exasperated love I can think of is between a parent and a child. Children have a way of taking your heart to the edge of the cliff of insanity. Your child decides to go in a direction that is wreckless, lifeless, godless, and at some point you have no power to do anything about it; limitations and unmetexpectations. You are on your knees at the edge, exasperated but still loving your kid as you barely hold on to hope as wave after wave pounds your heart. That, in my mind, is exasperaetd love. Paul loves his people, but his love is exasperated and he is frustrated.
Paul moves to a different synagogue, and God allows some relief. The wave ebbs back and the kingdom moves forward.
Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
Paul preaches the gospel, and Crispus is saved. Crispus was a ruler of the synagogue, which means he had some wealth and position in the community. His household is saved, and others in the community hear Paul preach and are saved and baptized. The success is great, but Paul is still in need of encouragement. I see this in vereses 9-10.
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
Jesus comes to Paul in a vision with an encouraging word. Luke does not say what is going on in paul’s heart, but looking at Jesus’s words to him give us some clues. Jesus says, “Don’t fear.” Paul might have been anxious. Jesus says, “keep preaching in Corinth.” Paul might have been thinking about moving on to another city. Jesus assures him, “I am drawing more Corinthians to My Kingdom.” So Paul stays six more months preaching the word.
There is a danger to frustration. Unchecked frustration can lead to becoming cynical toward life and becoming hypercritical of everything, even of God. Uncontrolled frustration will move you away from people, isolating yourself from God’s fellowship with His people or your family and close friends. It can lead to apathy and anger, even despair. It wil harden your heart to the point you will not love your neighbor and your love for God will grow cold.
How are you this morning Christian? Are you frustrated? Take a minute to examine your heart? How do you feel toward God’s people? How feel about your place in this church? Do you find yourslef complaining more than praising? How cynical are you toward God’s kingdom advancing in Litchfield or his people? What is your bible time like? Nonexistent? Dry and cold? Do you pray? Do you pray with confidence? Is your prayer laced with love or apathy? How you answer these questions can clue you into how your frustration is weakening your resolve to hold fast in your ministry.
Jesus has a word for you this morning. Just as he came to Paul, so he comes to you. He reminds you of three trusths to anchor your heart and strengthen your resovle to stay in the work of joyfully advancing God’s kingdom by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home.
The Holy Spirit empowers your resolve to fight through frustration with His presence, protection, and prevailing power.
The Holy Spirit empowers your resolve to fight through frustration with His presence, protection, and prevailing power.
Hold fast, Christian. The Holy Spirit strengthens your resolve to fight frustration with His presence.
Hold fast, Christian. The Holy Spirit strengthens your resolve to fight frustration with His presence.
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
To be reolved in something is to hold fast, to be umoved, and to keep going. Jesus commands Paul to be resolved in his faith and ministry. Jesus says give two imperatives: do not fear and keep preaching.
There is an element of fear on your frustration. Thinking about the two young men in my office, I am afraid of the consequnces of them not learning how to read or do math as an adult. I am also afraid of the consequnce of them not knowing Jesus as their Savior when it comes timeto meet God face to face.
Frustration has a way of weakening your resolve in the ministry. What keeps you from sharing the gospel? Is it not fear and frustation? You fear rejection on the one hand and your tired of being rejected on the other.
Over the years, I cannot tell you how many pastors, missionaries, and church members have left their post because of being overwhlemed by frustration.
Jesus says, the solution to keeping your resolve is His presence. He tells Paul, “for I am with you.” These are the same words Jesus gave his disciples in His Great Commission.
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
What is it about being in Christ’s presnce that strenthens you? A couple fo things come to mind. It’s in his presence we are promised to be strengthened, helped, and upheld.
fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Second, Jesus fuflilled this promise whne he ascended into heaven. at the moment you beleived in Jesus, he gave you His Spirit to live inside of your heart. The Holy SPirit,not only selas you, protecting your slavation, but he counsels you and comforts you in your time of need. The ascension and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit ensure Jesus will never leave or forsake you.
Finally, we are strengthened in the fact that God is never frustrated. God is not bound by limitations and unmet expectations. Paul just said
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
The bible makes it clear that God can do as he pleases
The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it; therefore, who can stand in its way? It is His hand that is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord.
God is not frustrated with anything. He can be angry at sin and wickedness, but he is not frutsate by it. He already has a solution for sin. either you will repent and embrace His Son as your Savior or you will face his wrath in hell. There is not frustrion there. He has already told us how the world ends. he wins. There is no frustration in his plans.
Consider for a moment what it is like to be in the presence of someone who is frustrated at life. It is hard work to find harmony and rest, almost impossible. But with God, he is never frustrated. He is always at rest and in control. Nothing worries him. He never sleeps nor slumbers, nor does he grow tired of you coming to Him. He’s never annoyed with your problems.
Where do we find God’s presnece? You find him in His Bible. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. You find him in prayer. The blood of Jesus gives you direct access to the throne of his grace. You also find him in the church, int he fllowship of his people.
I will tell you this, if you come to my office frustrated and ready to go soemwhere else, I will bet my salary you have negelected your bible, your prayer time, and your fellowship with God’s people. Spedn less time on Fox News and CNN. Those people are frustrtaed beyond beleif. Spend more time in prayer, study, and fellwoship. That is what Jesus modeled for us, and what he commends to you today.
Don’t fret, Christian. The Holy Spirit strengthens your resolve to fight frustration with His protection.
Don’t fret, Christian. The Holy Spirit strengthens your resolve to fight frustration with His protection.
I love God’s sovereignty. Look how Jesus minsiters to Paul’s soul before verses 12-13. He reminds Paul to not fear when they come to arrest you and bring you before Gallio.
But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal,
saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.”
Jesus knew they were coming and he assured Paul, “I got this.” They will not lay hand on you. I will protect you. Jesus is faithful to protcting Paul as you see in
But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.
But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.”
And he drove them from the tribunal.
And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.
Before Paul could say a word, Gallio saw through the Jews nonsense and stopped everything. He saw their complaint as a Jewish law complaint which ahd nothing to do with Rome. the Jews were so frustrated they beat Sosthenes for not presnting a solid case. They had no idea that it was Jesus protecting Paul all along.
Jesus goes before you and makes a path for you to follow. he does nto remove obstacles.
Frsutration is a part of your sanctification.
Frsutration is a part of your sanctification.
It is meant to show you your limitations and your epectations so that you will turn to God who is not bound by limitations and is able to meet every expectation you need met..
Christian, remeber,
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
All things include being brought before the courts on shoddy charges, or being thrown in jail for the sake of the gospel, or being hated by your neighbor because you hold to God’s design for marriage and godly living; even serving unchurhced children who have no idea what you are talking about when you teach them and love them in the gospel.
Jesus wll give you the strength to endure whatever hardship he brings. He will never leave you and has provided His Spirit to live inside of you to counsel and comfort you as he soverignly works His will.
Stay faithful, Christian. The Holy Spirit strengthens your resolve to fight frustration with His prevailing power.
Stay faithful, Christian. The Holy Spirit strengthens your resolve to fight frustration with His prevailing power.
Jesus says, “Stay faithful Paul, I am drawing more Corintians to Myself.”
for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
He is not referring to those who are already saved. he is referring to those wo He is going to draw through the preaching of His word. Jesus is saying, “My elect are in this city. Go get them.” We preach the gospel knowing Jesus is the one who will draw the sinner to himself. he will do the hard work in the heart, just as he did with Lydia. He uses as instruments of grace to proclaim His message.