I recently spoke with a pastor friend who is facing some very intense issues in his church. As he shared what was happening, I was encouraged by the way he was handling it. After listening to the situation, I asked him how he was doing personally, how his soul was. With tears in his eyes, he admitted how heavy it all felt and how deeply it was weighing on him.

In that moment, as I listened, I felt like I missed an opportunity to truly encourage him or offer wise counsel. I shared some of my own struggles, but afterward I wished I had said more. So I took time to reflect on that conversation. What follows is the encouragement I wish I had given him, and one I hope will also serve anyone who needs it right now.

First, we must remember that whatever we face as pastors is allowed by God. In His infinite wisdom, nothing reaches us apart from His permission. If God is able to stop something from coming to us, and He is, then what He allows comes under His sovereign care and purpose.

At our church, we are about to finish our study of the book of Job, which reminds us that anything we face is ultimately allowed by God. Job’s suffering did not come randomly or outside of God’s control; Satan could not touch Job without first receiving God’s permission, and even then, God set clear limits on what could be done (Job 1–2). In the midst of devastating loss, Job rightly acknowledged God’s sovereign hand, saying, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away,” and Scripture affirms that Job did not sin by speaking this way (Job 1:21–22; 2:10). 

Later, when God speaks, He does not justify Himself but reveals His supreme wisdom and authority over all things (Job 38–41), making clear that nothing Job endured escaped His governance. Job teaches that us that trials, opposition, and deep suffering are not signs that God has lost control or abandoned His servants, but realities He has wisely permitted, always within His power to restrain and always for purposes that may be hidden for a time.

Remembering that what we face as pastors is allowed by God helps us find meaning and encouragement in the midst of challenges. Most importantly, it reminds us that God is for us and not against us. This is where Job’s friends went wrong, they assumed Job’s suffering was the result of his own wrongdoing, rather than recognizing that God’s purposes were greater and not a sign of God’s opposition to Him.

The second thing to remember is that Christ faced even more than we ever could. Throughout His ministry, Jesus faced constant trouble and opposition. Religious leaders challenged His authority, accused Him of blasphemy, and even claimed He worked by the power of Satan (Matt. 12:14, 24; Mark 2:5–7). He was tested with questions, rejected in His hometown, and opposed by those who should have recognized Him (Mark 6:1–6; Matt. 22:15–22). 

Many who followed Him turned away when His teaching became difficult (John 6:60–66), and one of His own disciples betrayed Him while the rest fled in fear (Matt. 26:14–16, 56). Jesus was falsely accused, mocked, beaten, and ultimately crucified, though He was completely innocent (Matt. 26:59–68; 27:27–31). His life reminds us that suffering and opposition are not signs of God’s disfavor, since even the sinless Son of God endured intense hardship in the faithful fulfillment of His calling. Rather, these things can and do happen, sometimes with great intensity, yet God the Father is with us just as He was with Christ. Their presence does not mean we have done something wrong.

The beauty of Christ’s example is that He understands suffering and trials far more deeply than we ever could. He bore the greatest weight of suffering, trials, betrayal, temptation, and deep discouragement, and He did so in order to set us free. Because of His work, when we face the difficulties of this life, we do so as a redeemed people, no longer bound by sin or the fallen order of this world. One day we will be completely free from all turmoil and pain. These present troubles are momentary, and Christ reminds us that though we carry a cross now, we will soon be with Him, receiving crowns that we will joyfully cast at His feet, where tears will be no more. Amen.

I would remind my brother that he is deeply loved by God, and that the burdens he carries have been entrusted to him by a God who knows exactly how much we can bear. These trials keep us in a place of dependence, reminding us of our continual need for the Lord. We must remember that the challenges we face have been allowed by God, and because Christ endured the sufferings of this life to the greatest degree possible, He now helps us in our weakness. For this reason, we should fight for our joy and intentionally celebrate the good things God has done, so that in dry and difficult seasons we can remember His faithfulness and trust that He is able.