In 2007, Seth Godin wrote a little book called The Dip. Upon reading it last year, it quickly became one of my favorites. It’s self-described as the little book that teaches you when to quit and when to stick.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book.

“Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.”

“Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority of people who are able to push just a tiny bit longer than most.”

“They quit in their quest to be the best in the world because the cost just seemed too high.”

And those are found within the first ten pages. We haven’t even talked about what The Dip is.

Seth Godin describes it as this, “The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. A long slog that’s actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path.”

The Dip is difficult, it’s painful, and it will tempt you to give up. In fact most people give up in The Dip.

If you’ve been a pastor for very long, I bet you’ve experienced The Dip. Chances are many of you are currently in a Dip.

I’m not talking about within your attendance or giving numbers, though that might be the case. I’m talking about a long and difficult season where nothing seems to be going right, and it’s becoming difficult to take another step.

The temptation to quit is huge, because it’s human nature to quit when it hurts. But quitting when you hit the Dip is a bad idea. If being a pastor was worth it in the beginning, then quitting when you hit the Dip just wastes the time you already invested.

Think about anyone you’ve ever looked up to or admired, what you’ll discover is that every one of them have had their fair share of Dips.

Now, think about your favorite person in the Bible. They went through a Dip, didn’t they?

How do I know? Because everyone who has ever done anything great or significant has had to experience the Dip. No one is exempt from it.

And if you want God to do something great in you and your church, you have no choice but to push through the Dip. Getting started is easy, but it’s not until you get through the Dip that your efforts begin to pay off.

In what ways have you experienced The Dip? How did you get out of it? Let us know in the comments below, and if you haven’t already make sure to subscribe to the blog to get tips on church growth, leadership, and more delivered straight to your inbox.