Pastors are a unique breed of people. Almost every one of them are sanguine and eternally optimistic. They’re constantly championing the vision of the kingdom of God—creation being remade and coming under joyful submission to the King. I can say with confidence, most pastors are a joyful and happy people!

Yet, why are so many pastors, at the very same time, mortally discouraged? That is, if the life of a pastor is a constant reminder of the glories of God, the pleasures of God’s plan and the spurring on of Kingdom people, why do so many want to quit on Mondays?

Any pastor that’s in the trenches with people is bruised and battle-weary. Long seasons of struggle are often followed by short periods of respite—just enough to keep us going in the kingdom.   When the pain, disappointment and real struggle of ministry wears us down, here are three statements to whisper to yourself. That is, when the grass looks greener somewhere else, use these truths to water your soul and see if it doesn’t come back to life.

1. “This is going to pass.” Life is messy. Church is chaotic. Nobody is denying the sin-drenched nature of our existence. And by the nature of our role, we find ourselves right in the middle of emotional and relational tsunamis with the people we shepherd. Equally painful is when those people we have loved, led, encouraged and sat with at 2 a.m. in the emergency room one day tell us they just “aren’t being fed anymore”. Or even worse, they don’t tell us. We find out from social media that people that we had walked with for years have haphazardly chosen a new faith family. It hurts. And in those moments, often because of our own fractured soul, we are inches from throwing in the ministerial towel. Take a breath and say, “This feeling is going to fade.” We will wake up in the morning with a new perspective and renewed hope that the church and its people are the hope of the world.

2. “It is a privilege to get to do this with people.” I don’t know another job in which we get unfettered access into the most intimate moments of people’s lives. Babies being born and wives being buried are the bookends on millions of sacred seconds we get to spend with people. But when the weight seems unbearable and the crisis’ are intolerable, look towards heaven and say, “Wow, I get to do this. What an honor.”

3. “This is about the glory of God.” Pastoring may be the most thankless job on planet earth. We are just above the guys who clean out port-a-potties. Nobody sees them, but it happens. But when we want to quit, turn in our credentials, put out our resume, sit in a cubicle with 100 other people inserting numbers into a nameless spreadsheet remind yourself, “This is not about me. This is about the glory of God.” God is not necessarily most gloried when we succeed or our churches fill up. God is equally glorified in our failures and frailties. Ministry is hard, for sure. But it is hard so that we might, in our most difficult seasons say, “This is about His glory!”