Near my desk is a cork board covered with sayings collected over 32 years – quotes and cartoons designed to bolster my faith and to keep me on the path. I need these reminders because, if it is true, as Scott Peck says, that life is hard, then it is doubly true that ministry is hard.

Ministry is hard because we are engaged by our savior against formidable foes, summarized in classic Christianity by the words “flesh, world and devil.” You can’t pin any of these down. They often go unrecognized., and their influence shows up within us (to our great dismay) as well as in those outside the church.

Often it is hard to tell if we are making any progress. We fix one thing and something else falls apart. Are we winning the battle but losing the war? Or is it possible in some way unseen to human eyes, that although many battles are lost, God is still winning the war?

Those of us in the branch of the church committed to God’s work of renewal can’t help but think about these things. And the constant danger is that we might lose heart.

The apostle Paul faced every imaginable obstacle in the course of his ministry. The church in Paul’s day had splintered into factions, some in the church were championing sexual immorality, and the authority structure had broken down.

What kept him going? With surprising candor, Paul writes to the very church that gave him the most trouble, “Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.” (II Cor. 4:1 NRSV)

It’s the sort of sentence you put on a cork board near your desk.

Paul trusted God to accomplish his purposes in the power of the gospel. He could be open about his weakness, and he could even risk dying daily with Christ in order to experience the resurrection power of Christ.

It is counterintuitive. While our Adversary whispers, “But you’re not winning by any measure!” we find ourselves going deeper into the heart of the gospel.

Our redemption came out of the darkest moment of seeming defeat, and we have learned ever since to define success by the cross. Dying with Christ is God’s appointed process for defeating our greatest spiritual challenges.

“For your sake we are being killed all day long,” Paul declares (Rom. 8:36), quoting Psalm 44:22. Ironically, this constant dying is God’s pathway to spiritual victory. Just knowing that is enough to keep me going.