We live in a culture that seems to values the win above everything else. We love to celebrate the achievements. We focus so much on success that, I think, we miss something. We focus so much on success that we form a tunnel vision draining us of our joy when we are not successful. When we feel as though we are not achieving anything we get frustrated and depressed. When we don't see the win we feel worthless. We have forgotten to value the struggle, to celebrate the challenge, and to focus on being faithful.
I believe that many in the church are growing tired because the don't see the win. Either they don't see it because the do not know what a win looks like or they just don't believe they are winning. So I wanted to share three promises of scripture: 1 Cor 3:5-8, Isa 55:11, and Gal 6:9.
1 Cor 3:5-8 "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor."
The task God calls us to can be a very involved process. You may be at the beginning or middle of the process and never see then end results. You may also be at the end of the process witnessing the fruit of the labors, but not knowing all of the work that truly went in to seeing this "win." I knew a pastor who liked to brag how many people he was bringing to the Lord. He was somewhat pompous because he was "such a great soul winner." However when you talked to the people that he was "bringing to the Lord" you would find out that they had friends who had been wittnessing to them for years and it just happened that this pastor was the one who got to see the fruit of those friends labors. We labor and toil to bear fruit and it is hard, but without the struggle there will be no growth. With out the struggle there will be no fruit. So value the struggle because God promises that He will bring the increase.
Isa 55:11"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
God says His word will accomplish what he pleases. It will do the thing he sent it out to do. So if God is prompting you to share His word with those around you it will accomplish exactly what God has called you to do. I was reading a book the other day that was noting that God does not just desire faithfulness, but that we bear fruit. His promise here says that if we are truly faithful we will be bearing fruit. Perhaps we need to redefine what a win is in the church. Perhaps we should define a win as being truly faithful to God, listening to the Spirit and doing what He calls you to do. When we do that there is no way we can lose, there is no way that we will not bear fruit because His word shall not return void. When challenged His word always proves itself. When challenged His word always comes out the victor. So let us celebrate the challenge because in meeting the challenge we have won for His word will prosper in the thing for which He sent it.
Gal 6:9 "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
This last promise gives us an idea of perspective. So often we get so fixated on the immediate win that we forget that we are planting seeds of eternity. What difference is the temporal in the scope of the eternal. Paul promises that if we hold course that in the end we will see the harvest of the fruit we have labored for. Maybe not in this lifetime, but at least in the next. It is much like what Paul said to Timothy in his first letter. 1 Tim 5:24-25 " Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. 25 Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden." Eventually the work you do will come to light, and the fruit will be evident, so focus on being faithful.
You do not need to get depressed or frustrated in the struggles because you feel as though you are achieving nothing. You don't need to feel worthless because you feel as though the challenge is to great and you are never going to win. You do not need to waste your focus on what everyone else defines as being successful, but you can focus on being faithful. As a friend liked to tell His youth group "God did not call you to be great, He called you to be faithful." So let us not grow weary in doing just that.
