I stumbled into some problems…no one got hurt but they sure put a halt to plans at least for the moment. I had already read this excerpt written by Eric Bridges earlier in the week…
Every Christian, declared the great preacher C.H. Spurgeon, is either a missionary or an imposter.
Or both. Even the Apostle Paul had his days of discouragement, despair and failure. Just read his letters. A sign of growth for a believer is living like a missionary more days than you live like an imposter.
One of the great things about being around Christian mission work -- or a good church, for that matter -- is associating with people who are more faithful, more committed and more passionate about serving God than you are. They are a "cloud of witnesses," as Hebrews 12:1 describes the saints of old, who motivate the rest of us to pursue a higher calling.
Anna, a 98-year-old lady in my church, participates in multiple ministries during a typical week. Recently she spoke at a women's detention facility and 14 inmates gave their lives to Christ. Anna has a great sense of humor, too. No one can top that! But we can listen to her wisdom, learn from her life and follow her example with God's help.
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, faithful is as faithful does.
When a problem brings us to a halt it is easy to say, “God must not want me to go there or do that.” Because, well it’s just easier to NOT than TO. To push ahead in the face of adversity, to push ahead in the face of limited resources or big government, it is just easier to quit. Quitting is what the evil one wants a believer to do. Remember Jesus in the garden? Quitting would have been easier for HIM not us.
Faithful is as faithful does.
This morning at a prayer breakfast a gentleman asked, “What do you want to hear when you get to heaven?” Interesting question, one man answered “welcome” and there were other answers I thought of “well done good and faithful servant.” Did you catch the faithful part?
Faithful is to continue when it is hard, uphill, hot, nasty, mean, difficult, horrendous, dirty, sweaty and grueling if God has said so. Have you noticed that too often we quit just before a real breakthrough. It is when we are ready to break that the breakthrough comes. I wonder how many times I have given up just before the break though.
Faithful is as faithful does.
The headline in the paper today is “Savannah-Chatham schools to slash 132 jobs, raise property tax rate” that is 132 people, 132 families possibly more if two wage-earners are employed by the board more bad news to add to the pile. How do you be faithful in that possibility? What has God called you to? Certainly not an easy task, faithfulness is not problem free. Honestly, there are no problem free solutions just solutions with problems we will push through. Faithful is as faithful does!
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