When You Feel Like Quitting (Part One)

In the movie Funny Farm, the character played by Chevy Chase abruptly quits his job, and he and his wife buy a farm in Vermont where they hope for peace and quiet. There he plans on writing the great American novel. Unfortunately, they have no idea of the troubles that await them in life on the farm.

You may have similar feelings to that character—you’re on the brink of throwing in the towel and leaving your ministry. Maybe you’re faced with a core group of critics who oppose your every plan. You are not alone. There was a time when the apostle Paul wanted to quit Corinth. That night is detailed in Acts 18:1-11. His ministry at Corinth had been met with stiff opposition and fear (18:6,9), and the fruit of his labors had been meager. Paul wanted to pack up and leave town. It took a night vision to keep him in Corinth another year and a half. When he later wrote a letter to this church, he shared his heart about what kept him going (2 Corinthians 4)—and those motives can help us as well. What was the first of his motivations?

We have a life-changing ministry.

“Therefore since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:1 nkjv)

Or, as The Message puts it, “Since God has so generously let us in on what He is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times.”

What kind of ministry is found in the preceding verse? A transforming one! The word in the original text is metamorphoumetha. We derive the word metamorphosis from this word. In nature, it describes the dramatic change from caterpillar to butterfly. In Scripture, it depicts Jesus’ dramatic change when, before the eyes of three of His apostles, His outward appearance was transfigured to correspond to His divine nature (Matthew 17:1-3). In ministry, it describes a dramatic life change in the church family. Paul saw this dramatic change when Crispus, president of the Jewish synagogue, was transformed by the gospel (Acts 18:8). After God spoke to him in a vision, Paul hung in there, and no doubt it helped to reflect on Crispus and Justus and dozens of others who were changed by grace.

Are you focusing on a handful of critics who have an agenda? Or are you recalling the dozens who are grateful for your ministry because their lives have been changed!

Tomorrow we will see the second of these motives…