I felt my heart grimace. I had that tight, sharp sensation in the back of my throat. Involuntarily, my eyes were becoming moist. Soon my best attempts at trying to hold back my overwhelming urge to cry had failed. “How could they do this to me?” I asked myself. “How can Christians treat each other this way?” My mind kept replaying the situation over again. With each replay, I could feel myself becoming more angry. I concluded, “That’s it! I quit! I don’t want to serve in this ministry. I don’t want to serve at church anymore. And I certainly don’t want to serve with those people. God, find someone else. I am so done with this!”

I busied myself with something else. Vacuuming, I believe. If God’s goal was to get me to thoroughly vacuum my house, He certainly accomplished it! Sleepless nights and frequent chats with God followed over the course of the next few days. Jesus had been hurt and disappointed by people too, I reasoned, but He never quit. He continued to love. Continued to show mercy. And continued to extend grace. “I will do the same.” I finally convinced myself.

Maybe a few weeks, or a few months would go by and eventually there would either be a new people-related hurt or frustration that would arise, or the unresolved feelings from the previous incident would resurface. I did a lot of vacuuming over the course of the nine years I served as director of our church’s mom’s group!

“I quit,” may be a common mantra in the secular work world. Frustration with the work environment or office atmosphere, co-worker relationship issues, and feeling underappreciated, over worked and under paid can result in many people feeling the need to do something else for a living. But is it normal to have those same types of feelings when serving in ministry or working at a church?

Feeling as though we may be compromising our witness, or failing at manifesting the love of Christ may account for the mums-the-word approach to ministry related frustrations. But I believe that disgruntlement in ministry is more prevalent than many feel comfortable admitting.

First of all, we need to understand that people-related hurts and frustrations are nothing new. As a leader, Jesus experienced more than a fair share of people related disappointments by those who were believers. Second, where there are people, there will be disagreement. Were the disciples really arguing over who was going to sit where at the table? And third, there is nothing wrong with feeling hurt, disappointment and anger in ministry, but what we do with those feelings can make all the difference.

If you have heard yourself on more than one occasion utter the words, “I quit” about your ministry position, hang on. You are not alone! Let’s revisit some of Jesus’ leadership and ministry issues. You may just find yourself wondering, how did He manage all that stress without a vacuum cleaner?

In Matthew chapter 8, Jesus heals Peter’s mother in law. How does Peter say, “thank you?” Oh yeah, that’s right, Peter denies Jesus three times. Then, in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is feeling anguish over what is about to come, He asks his disciples to pray. What do they do instead? Sleep. And how does Judas, one of the twelve apostles, seal his relationship with Jesus? He betrays Him for thirty pieces of silver.

These hurts and disappointments Jesus experienced weren’t caused by non-believers, or by those who didn’t have a personal relationship with Him. These offenses were caused by the very men who had walked and talked with Jesus, and who had witnessed first hand His love and miracles. They were His own. I wonder if Jesus had an overwhelming urge to cry, and if He frequently asked Himself, “How can they treat me this way?”

In Luke 22 we read about the disciples having a dispute over who was to sit on the right hand side of Jesus at the table. In the middle of the mission field–where the objective of the day was saving lives for eternity–Jesus was having to deal with arguments among His team over who was greatest based on where they sat at the dinner table! Had this leader not been Jesus, a Mental Health day may have been in order!

These situations put office atmosphere, and issues with co-workers in a whole new perspective. So, is it normal for those of us serving in ministry to feel, at times, we need to quit? Absolutely! If the epitome of a ministry leader had work related issues, why would we think we should have anything less?

As God, Jesus knew what was coming even before His ministry began. He knew the end result of His best efforts. Yet, even with that knowledge, He didn’t quit. He continued to love, show mercy, extend grace, and ultimately, He willingly took His co-workers place on a cross.

The way Jesus chose to respond to His hurt, disappointment, and frustration made all the difference in the world. Had He chosen differently, you and I would never have to think about quitting our ministry positions because there would have been no need for us to start them to begin with!