I’m going to make a boast. I usually try not to brag about my accomplishments in life, but I can’t resist a little bragging today. According to one website, I’ve experienced four of the top 20 most common painful physical ailments that a person can face. Here they are:

  • Migraine headaches: from the age of 13 till 21, I had debilitating migraine headaches on a regular basis.
  • Gallbladder attack: excruciating pain in my abdomen requiring surgery.
  • Back pain: I’ve had surgery on my lower back due to a slipped disc and pain that kept me from sitting from longer than ten minutes at a time.
  • Kidney stones: I passed my first kidney stone about a year ago.

But there was another common painful experience that didn’t make the list. It’s without a doubt the most painful of any of these, and that is pain in ministry.

After serving almost 20 years in ministry, I realize that it’s impossible to do ministry without experiencing hurt. Any time you have more than one person, you have a recipe for misunderstanding. Any time you have three or more, people start taking sides.

And when you have a strong conviction that the message of Jesus matters more than anything else in life, you naturally build your life around the church and ministry. The more of your heart and trust is poured into these things, the more difficult it is when something negative happens.

When people you respect in ministry do or say things that are hurtful, there’s a sense of betrayal that’s especially unexpected. But when we choose to approach hurt in a way that brings God’s healing, we don’t have to choose between hiding or focusing on the brokenness we’ve faced in life. Instead, we allow God to redeem these hurts.

Let’s look at the requirements of this third path:

1. Choose not to gossip

Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

2. Confront any sin by following the pattern of the Bible

Matthew 18:14-16: “If your brother or sister sins against you, go to them. Tell them what they did wrong. Keep it between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them back. But what if they won’t listen to you? Then take one or two others with you….”

3. Choose to forgive

Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

4. Choose to focus on the positive.

Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

5. Remember the challenges you’re facing are only temporary

2 Corinthians 4:13-18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

While the world around us will tempt us to respond in a variety of unhelpful ways, if we trust God with our pain and follow His leading through Scripture, He will redeem even our most painful experiences.

A post from Kyle Gilbert, Vice President for Communication at MEDIAlliance