God can work through each of us. He will use all who are willing. God doesn’t ask us to be successful He simply asks us to be faithful. Has God given you a ministry or a task? Are you losing faith or standing strong? Does the world see you being faithful even when you see no results? Or does the world see you being faithful in the face of devastating personal problems?
Is This Unsuccessful?
Some ministers spend their lives serving small churches. They may never see their church grow. Does that mean they are unsuccessful? No. They faithfully serve where God sends them. They serve and care for the souls God has given them to care for.
Missionaries faithfully go to third-world countries and into the jungles to spread the word of God. Some return home without seeing any fruits for their labor. Some die without seeing any fruits. But they faithfully plant seeds.
Do you teach a Sunday school class? Preparing lessons takes time and maybe you aren’t seeing a change in the children. It can be discouraging, and you can start to feel like you’re wasting your time?
The Impact of a Sunday School Teacher
But it was a Sunday School teacher, Edward Kimball, who by remaining faithful to the work God gave him, impacted the whole world for Christ.
A Sunday School Teacher That Shaped History
- Edward Kimball helped lead Dwight L. Moody to Christ.
- Dwight L. Moody converted J. Wilbur Chapman at a evangelistic meeting.
- Chapman converted Billy Sunday.
- Billy Sunday converted Mordecai Ham.
- Mordecai Ham converted Billy Graham.
How willing would you be if?
How willing would you be if God’s task for you was to stand strong in your faith and to praise, worship and proclaim the love, grace, and mercy of God while your body was being ravaged by cancer? I have met just such a young boy. He lost a leg to cancer. While going through the treatments for cancer, he insisted on coming to church as often as he could. When the cancer spread and became terminal, his faith stayed strong.
I have also been privileged to be the friend of a few adults dealing with terminal cancer. I say privileged because God shined bright through them also. Their walk had never been stronger. Unlike some people, they did not blame God for what was happening and turn from Him. Brian was one of those friends. Whenever anyone asked Brian how he was doing, Brian would always answer “Blessed” or “Blessed better than I deserve.” It was heart wrenching to see Brian for the last time because of the toll the cancer had taken on his body and because we knew we would never see him again in this lifetime. But it was a joy to pray, worship, and take communion with him.
If you judge success by whether these two would be cancer survivors, they will be unsuccessful. But if you judge success by how strong of a witness they were for Christ, they have been very successful. Will any of those people who are not Christians come to Christ? That wasn’t their concern. Their ministry was to show their love for and faith in God and in that they were both very successful.
How faithful have you been?
How faithful have you been in your ministry throughout whatever is going on in your life? The ministry or task God gives you may not be easy, and it may be a long time before you see any success, or you may not see any in your lifetime. Just remember God doesn’t ask us to be successful He simply asks us to be faithful. If we are faithful, God will do the work and accomplish through us what He wants to accomplish.
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