In his memoir, Eugene Peterson writes, “I had no way of knowing it at the time, but I was entering into a time of my life that I later named the ‘badlands.’ And I had no way of knowing how long I would be there.”
“It was going to last six years.”
I too have lived in and pastored in the badlands. It began with a difficult time while I was pastoring a church. That period also lasted at least six years. I worked hard and tried my best to be a good pastor, but my efforts had little success and much opposition.
Then I switched ministries. Humanly speaking, I made the change too late. The new ministry suited me much better, and I began to see fruit in my ministry. Sadly though, I still found myself in the badlands. Circumstances in my personal life made things very difficult. This period lasted at least another four years. In total, I spent about ten years in the badlands.
Here is some of what I learned.
First, every pastor will eventually go through the badlands. I attend an annual gathering of pastors. Every year we begin by sharing or giving updates from the past year of ministry. Half the pastors report that they’ve had a good year, and half report how hard the past year has been. One year, a friend leaned over and said, “Take note: the people who say they’ve had a hard year will come back next year and report they’ve had a good year, and the people who’ve reported they’ve had a good year will come back next year and tell us how hard it’s been.” His observation was correct. Over the years that I’ve been part of this group, everyone has been through both good years and bad years.
I’ve been around long enough to observe that this is true in ministry. We will all go through difficult seasons. We should expect it and not be surprised by it. This fits a biblical pattern. If you look at the ministry of the Apostle Paul or the Apostle John, you see that ministry was difficult for them. It had joys, but it was also full of suffering. This is the way it’s supposed to be.
Second, I’ve discovered that this period will last some time. Another friend told me when I was in the badlands that I could expect this period to last several years. I think he was trying to tell me not to expect a quick change. I was discouraged when he told me this but later came to appreciate his wisdom.
When we go through significant difficulty, it usually lasts a while. It’s important to recognize this so that we don’t think we will escape too easily. Generally speaking, when we enter a period we call the badlands, it’s probably going to last a while.
But the most important thing to know about this period is that God can still use us. Read 2 Corinthians, 2 Timothy, other prison epistles, or the book of Revelation, and you discover that a lot of ministry happens in less-than-ideal circumstances.
When I was younger, I thought if I did ministry right, I would enjoy it and it would come with great success. That’s not at all the case. As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2, ministry involves suffering. Ministry is suffering.
So we can expect to go through these periods, but it doesn’t mean God won’t use us. In fact, we discover that God often has a purpose in our suffering. God doesn’t stop working just because things aren’t easy for us.
I want to encourage you: if you’re pastoring through the badlands, if you are unappreciated in your current ministry or facing headwinds and opposition, or you’re going through a hard time in your personal life, you’re in good company.
This is part of what ministry is like. Don’t think that God isn’t using you or that it’s a sign he’s done with your ministry. Keep going. Stay faithful.
Our job is to serve; his is to determine what he does with our ministries. Eventually, every pastor will have to learn how to pastor through the badlands. With his help, we can do so because he is always faithful.
