One thing you can always count on in ministry is that you’ll face challenges.

Trials are simply a part of ministry.

Just when you think you’ve solved one crisis, another one will pop up.

Sometimes it’s external—like a ministry problem your church can’t seem to solve.

Other times it’s internal—like division that threatens to rip your congregation apart.

And sometimes it’s personal—a relationship you can’t seem to heal or a health hurdle you can’t overcome. 

When a crisis hits, it’s important to do the smart things necessary to get through it.

You listen to what the experts say, you make good choices, and you keep moving forward, remembering at the same time that this will pass.

No trial will last forever!

The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:12, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you” (NLT).

Since sin entered the world, nothing has worked perfectly.

Everything on this planet is broken—the weather, the economy, your body, and even your best plans.

Nothing works perfectly in this life because sin broke everything on earth.

Isaiah 24 says, “The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant. . . . The earth has broken up. It has utterly collapsed” (Isaiah 24:5, 19 NLT).

Earth is full of loss, abandonment, and confusion.

Even nature is groaning. 

We may wonder why God allowed sin and evil to enter the world.

It’s because he wanted to give us a choice.

As a result, we’re the ones who choose self-centeredness and cause problems in society and in our environment. 

That’s why Jesus taught us to pray—“May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 NLT)—because this is not heaven. Heaven is a perfect place with no sorrow, no sickness, no sadness, and no stress.

But we shouldn’t expect heaven on earth.

One day we’ll get there, but we’re not there yet.

No matter what problem you’re facing, one day that problem will be part of your history rather than your present.

Soon enough you will marvel at all that God did in the midst of this trouble as you look at it from the other side.

But until then, there will be more challenges to face and adversity to endure.

This is part of our reality on this earth.

But we always hope because “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NIV).