A Wide Door for Ministry
By Glenna Marshall
It had been a brutal week, to be honest—one of those weeks when I wanted to call it quits. Ministry life isn’t for the fainthearted, that’s for sure. I hate being misunderstood, I hate being on the receiving end of unmerited criticism, I hate having to swallow insults because there is no other recourse for the pastor’s wife. When my husband has a hard week as a pastor, there is a direct impact on my relationships with people in the church. There’s just no way around that. But sometimes this is what ministry life entails: being misunderstood without a chance to explain. While that week of hurtful texts, phone calls, and passive aggressive comments felt like more than I could bear, it wasn’t the first time I’d been there. And it wouldn’t be the last, either. When we’re living through a particularly tough season of ministry life, we may be tempted to quit. Wave a white flag, write a resignation (or at least imagine writing one!), move on to another place to serve. But difficult ministry isn’t necessarily a reason to give up. Difficult ministry may be a reason to stay.
In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul closed his letter to the Corinthians with a round of well-wishing and greetings from other believers. Writing from Ephesus, he gave details about his plans to visit Corinth, but at the time of his writing, he planned to stay put in Ephesus because a “wide door for effective work had opened” to him (1 Cor. 16:9). That sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? A wide-open door to minister in a place with fruitful work? Sign me up. But then Paul finished his sentence with a phrase that would make most of us cringe a little. “But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,” Paul says, “for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:8-9).
We can read of Paul’s mission to the Ephesians in Acts 19, and there were many adversaries to his work there. In the two years that Paul ministered in Ephesus, he saw a lot of fruit as the gospel was proclaimed and people were saved. But he also saw a lot of adversarial resistance. There was even a riot when the local idol-makers lost business because of so many people were coming to faith in Jesus and turning away from idolatry. When Paul mentions the adversaries in Ephesus to the Corinthian church, he wasn’t exaggerating. But, he saw the great need for faithful gospel work—and that was reason to persevere there. He saw adversarial resistance as a “wide door for effective work.”
I love that God included details like these in Scripture. When I’m worn out from criticisms or judgments about my husband’s ministry to the local church, I remember Paul choosing to see a difficult ministry as a “wide door” that was opened to him for fruitful gospel work. Don’t get me wrong. It is a difficult thing to continue in quiet, persistent, faithful ministry when you’re constantly micromanaged or criticized or gossiped about. It’s hard. And yet, when we feel like we just can’t continue anymore, it’s good to pause and think about the kingdom of God. The ladies in my weekly Bible study like to drop the word paradox into our conversations around the Scripture as much as possible. Much of this Christian life is paradoxical to the rest of the word. Love is sacrifice. Living is dying and dying is living. The first are last. The last are first. We forgive our enemies rather than retaliate against them. We pray for those who hurt us rather than seek vengeance. It’s all so upside down—but in God’s economy, it makes perfect sense. We are servants for a kingdom that will far outlast this old world. And what the Lord requires of us aren’t perfect ministries but faithful ones.
God is sovereign over our lives. He has ordained all of our days, our ministries, the churches where we’ll serve, and the people who fill the pews each week. He sees the isolation that ministry families often feel. He knows about every stinging comment you’ve received, and He’s aware of the way your heart hurts. He knows that on some Sundays, church doesn’t feel like a very safe place for you. And He is with you when you walk in and offer a smile and a hug though everything in you wanted to stay home.
There are times when the decisions are made for us and we’re not welcomed to stay in our place of ministry. But when we are allowed to stay and it is wise to do so, we can pray for the Lord to help us view our church ministry like Paul did—like a wide door that has been opened to us for effective work. And there are many adversaries. We should expect adversaries! The adversaries don’t make the work ineffective or unfruitful. It may feel like perpetual roadblocks, criticism, or slander are going to squelch your effectiveness, but God is pleased to grow His kingdom in the most unlikely of places in His way. He will accomplish what He has purposed to do. And if He has swept you into His plan, your heart is so safe in His hands. One day, He will right every wrong, but until then, you can know that He loves you, He is with you, and He will accomplish His good purposes in your life and that of your church.
If you’re in a difficult season of ministry and struggling to see the purpose of perseverance, feel free to reach out to us at Practical Shepherding Women. We offer counseling for ministry wives and women in ministry as well as other services like mentoring or support. Email Kellye at kcarmackps@gmail.com for more details.
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural Southeast Missouri where she tries and fails to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence: Why God is Always Enough (P&R) and Everyday Faithfulness: The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World (Crossway, June 2020).