Joy or dogged perseverance?

Three things have 'gotten' (as they say in the US) me thinking:
First, last night, I caught the end of a programme about how prefessionalism in sport might be harming performance, and in particular, stiffling the exuberant brilliance of the most naturally gifted sportsmen & women.
Second, the other day in the car, I began listening to a talk about how, in Philippians, Paul continues to rejoice despite his sufferings because of his ministry, and how the book supposedly climaxes in his exclamation, 'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!' The speaker began to say that ministers must therefore always be joyful.
Third, some time ago, I read a book about ministry entitled, 'Brothers we are not Professionals', in which John Piper reminds stipendiary ministers not to become detached & 'professional', relying on competency rather than on Christ.
So, as I say, all this got me thinking: to what extent should Christian ministry be characterised by joy and to what extent is it about dogged perseverance and struggle? Are the two mutually incompatible, and if not, then what does joy in the midst of struggle look or feel like?
Let's be honest (as Ed Miliband said countless times yesterday!), ministry is hard work. It means very long hours and intense emotional involvement with others: "my little children... I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!" (Gal 4:19); "we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children." (1 Thess 2:7); "For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:8). So any minister worth his salt worries about the church family as a father or mother worries about his or her children - are they growing in their faith? How is s/he coping with this bereavement, illness, marital problem, divorce, redundancy etc? Why hasn't s/he been in church recently?
And then there are the worries about church growth & evangelism, the administration of the building, health & safety, finance etc etc., not to mention personal holiness & spiritual health.
So when Paul says, 'For you remember, brothers, our labour and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.' (1 Thes 2:9) or when he says to Timothy, 'Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.  It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. (2 Tim 2:3-6), we know what he means - gospel ministry involves labour & toil, suffering, hard work, training like that of an athlete and so on. But where's the joy? 
Well, I think Paul is saying that the joy is in the fruit of ministry: his prayers of thanks are for his hearers' growth in love, joy, faith & peace in Christ. His joy is in the proclamation of the gospel and the knowledge that whatever happens, God will save him for eternity (Phil 1:15-19). It's his pride in the Corinthians' faith (2 Cor 7:4), the Macedonian's generosity (2 Cor 8:2); the unity of the Philippians (Phil 2:2); reunion with Timothy (2 Tim 1:4); the love of Philemon (Phile 1:7) that gives him joy. In other words his joy is tied to the spiritual well-being of those in his care because if they are strong in faith, they will be living to praise and glorify his Lord & saviour, Jesus.
That's not to say that Paul doesn't know joy as a fruit of the Spirit. The other fruit are bound up with our interraction with fellow believers - love, peace, patience, gentlenes, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control - all (including faithfulness) are about our relationship with others. So why not joy as well? 
So hard work for the sake of gospel growth in others is what brings joy.

But how does this relate to sportsmen who become too professional and lose their flair? Well, I think John Piper is right when he says that stipendiary ministers must not rely on professional competence (hours and hours spent getting the sermon structure exactly right or producing a perfectly balanced order of service, for example). Sometimes ministry must be instinctive - call it "Spirit led" if that's your language (though of course the Spirit can lead carefully prepared services or sermons or meetings!) - so, for example, preparing for a meeting may have to be put to one side for the sake of an "impulse" to spend time with someone who is struggling. Perhaps life in general should be less structured around meetings and schedules and more about people. 


Now I'm rambling. But for me, one thing's for certain, there is more joy in one sinner who repents or one young Christian who's growing, or one mature believer who's persevering in service than anything else. If I have to work hard for this, so be it. And anyway, it's not me who works these miracles, but God's grace in me.