Greetings, sisters. I trust that God is giving you strength
for each day and wisdom for each task. Unlike our frailty, His resources are
unlimited.
Galatians 6:9 states, "And let us not be weary in well
doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
I'm sure you know about being weary. Your weeks are filled
with church services, visitation, counseling, outreach, and making contacts.
You have correspondence, cleaning of the church facility, preparation of
teaching materials, and dozens of other jobs necessary to the functioning of
your ministry. Then there are cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, errands,
home schooling, and all the other home duties.
The busyness can be challenging even when it yields evident
rewards. When results are less apparent, those tasks can become burdensome. It
is tempting to cry out, whether in sincerity or in desperation, "God,
where are the answers? You said there would be a harvest, and I don't see it.
When and how will You show the results?"
The apostle Paul (who authored the above verse, by the way) was
a busy man, always teaching, traveling, training, and preaching. He knew what
it was like to be weary. We read about his results in the Bible, and we know
that wonderful things happened through his ministry, but Paul didn't know all
those things ahead of time.
When he started out, he just faithfully preached the gospel
wherever he went. Often he was driven out of town by the Jews. He faced angry
mobs. He was beaten, thrown into prison, stoned and left for dead. Numerous
plots were made against his life, and more than once he made nighttime escapes.
If Paul had become weary, however, in well doing when he faced the opposition
in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, he never would have continued to
Derbe. If he had given up in despair after Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea,
he would not have continued to Corinth and Ephesus. Paul did not know when he
arrived in a city if he would be welcomed or rejected, if a church would be
started or not, or even if there would be any visible results at all (Athens). He
kept faithfully on, and God brought the harvest.
Paul shared God's truth with all kinds of people. He did not
know who would reject the gospel and who would accept it. Certainly, many
people rejected, but that did not stop him from proclaiming the truth once
again. He shared the gospel with lowly people like a lame man, a slave girl,
and natives on an island. He shared the gospel with common people like a cloth
seller, a jailer, the soldiers who guarded him, and the curious visitors who
came to see him. He shared the gospel with religious leaders, even leaders of
the synagogue. He shared the gospel with important men like a proconsul, governors,
and even a king. Some of those people rejected, but if those rejections had
stopped Paul, many others would not had heard the gospel.
Paul worked with many other servants of God and trained many
men for the ministry. He didn't know who would stick with it and who would quit.
He didn't know which would become valuable co-workers, trusted pastors, or
esteemed friends. Early on Paul must have been very disheartened by the
departure of John Mark, but that didn't stop him from working with Timothy,
Titus, and Tychicus. Later the departure of Demas must have been painful, but
that didn't keep Paul from working alongside Luke, Epaphras, Apollos, and
Aristarchus. Paul didn't even know that John Mark would later come back. In
spite of the disappointments, he just kept pouring his life into people, and
God gave the increase.
Faith is all about continuing to trust and follow God even
when (or especially when) we don't see results. Abraham and many others never
saw results. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off" (Hebrews 11:13). Overall, the prophets'
message was rejected. "Which of the prophets have not your fathers
persecuted?" (Acts 7:42). Yet God was faithful to Abraham and those other
servants. God did what He said He would do, and God blessed the ministries of
those men. God did His work through them, whether they saw it or not.
How and when God gives the harvest is up to Him. We must
trust God through the seeming fruitlessness. We must keep following Him through
the disappointments, and we must keep serving Him through the setbacks and dry
times. God says that His Word will not return void. He says that He is drawing
men to Himself. He says that He wants all men to be saved. He says He wants to
use us in His service. Our job is to be faithful - to continue on in spite of
the challenges. God's job is to bring the results, and He will!
Your service of presenting the Word to needy people and all
the auxiliary activity required to make that happen is important. What you do
today matters for eternity. You might not see the results now, and you might
never see many results on this earth, but God is doing His work through you. Don't
be weary. Trust God for the results in the timing and method that He chooses.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holtmember at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
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