JN 21:15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." 16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"

He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

Jesus will always be faithful to give you spiritual food to feed His sheep with if you will let Him, but you must keep in mind that not everyone is going to like the food that you serve, and you can expect some food fights with people along the way. Satan wants to get God's under-shepherd's so distracted with foolish controversies and criticisms that he can get you to tone down the quality of the food you serve so much that there is little spiritual nutrition left in it by the time you are actually serving it to people. God likes His food hot and healthy.

2TI 2:14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

MT 15:13 He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

Jesus was often put to the test by the ultra-religious crowd, but He never let that distract Him from His primary goal of accomplishing God's daily will, and neither should you. When Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep, He didn't tell him to fight with them, or let them control or dominate him with criticism. Your job is just to feed His sheep, and anything beyond this mandate is a waste of time plain and simple. I am going to list a few of the more common distractions below that most people run into while they are regularly feeding Jesus' sheep.

1. Criticism- If you are not secure in your self-worth and spiritual gifting's you can get your rejection buttons pressed pretty easily and either want to modify your ministry, or just take your toys and go somewhere else. Give people what God gives to you and they will be fed.

2. Slander and gossip- You can expect all kinds of rumors and false accusations to come up when you are doing God's work and everything in you will want to defend yourself, but you must learn to get a thicker skin and ignore it. God will defend you if you really need it.

3. Needs of all kinds- Many needs will crop up when you are trying to do God's work and Satan will try to accuse God of child abuse. People that you feed may not help to support you as they should, and there may be times that you will want to just say "forget them all".

4. Having your authority questioned- People will say "Who does this person think they are anyway?", and any rebellion in people will spew out upon you with them saying you're not qualified enough in some way. If God has called you then that is all the authority you need.

5. Flattery and spiritual pride- Satan loves to get people so full of themselves that there is no room left for God. If what you are feeding the sheep with really helps them then it is because it came from God and not you, and the quickest way to lose God's glory is to try and take it.

There are other distractions that come up as well, but the main thing is that you stay on course, keep loving and serving the sheep even when they bite, and fulfill Jesus' mandate to feed His sheep regularly. God will not ask you in the end how many miracles you did here, He will ask you if you really loved and served people here. Don't let anyone steal your love, peace, or joy, and just keep your eyes on Jesus and on the sheep you are supposed to be feeding. If you just keep your focus on feeding His sheep, everything else will work itself out.

1TI 1:5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.