This morning I ran across this blog post by John Piper titled "How I Almost Quit."

My dad is a retired pastor, and I learned firsthand how being in ministry can be a tough gig. Despite a deep-rooted love for Christian theology, I've never felt an inclination toward full-time ministry myself. (Perhaps the primary reason for that, however, has been that for most of my life I've been unworthy to be considered.) With those things said, I offer this excerpt from Piper's post, as quoted from his personal journal circa 1986:

O Lord, have mercy on me. I am so discouraged. I am so blank. I feel like there are opponents on every hand, even when I know that most of my people are for me. I am so blind to the future of the church. O Father, am I blind because it is not my future? Perhaps I shall not even live out the year, and you are sparing the church the added burden of a future I had made and could not complete? I do not doubt for a moment your goodness of power or omnipotence in my life or in the life of the church. I confess that the problem is mine. The weakness is in me. The blindness is in my eyes. The sin—O reveal to me my hidden faults!—is mine and mine the blame. Have mercy, Father. Have mercy on me. I must preach on Sunday, and I can scarcely lift my head.