Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he
who promised is faithful.
Hebrews
10:23
We are not called upon to be successful, but to be
faithful.
Mother
Teresa
Today, we move to the fruit of
faithfulness. Staying the course of
faithful action even when it’s hard and even when it seems like it isn’t doing
any good seems downright impossible at times.
I like to think that my actions make a difference. I’m guessing you do too. So Mother Teresa’s words above are sometimes
hard to hear. Jesus never said, “follow
me and I will make you successful.”
Here’s the hard part about being
unsuccessful. Failing is an integral
part of growing up. I worry about my
kids when things seem to come too easy.
I actually want them to encounter some adversity and even fail
sometimes. Do I sympathize, hurt with
them, and love on them when that happens?
You bet I do! But I don’t
actually hope that everything they ever attempt is a rousing victory.
Why? Because there are lessons you
cannot learn any other way other than by failing. Failing also has the potential to teach you
compassion. How can you know how to
support someone who is suffering if you’ve never suffered. One of the deepest comforts that Jesus
supplies to me in times of suffering is
that I know He knows what is to suffer.
God knows my suffering because God suffers as well. The really powerful part of that is that
God’s suffering brings redemption. The
cross is how God brings redemption. But
here’s the part that isn’t said much.
Our suffering can also, with God’s help, bring redemption.
This truth helps me be
faithful. Knowing that God uses success
and failure to bring about redemption means that my faithfulness is
enough. My obedience to the call is not
about me producing certain results. In
fact, I’m not responsible for the results.
I am responsible for obedience.
I’m responsible for being faithful.
But I don’t even have to be faithful on my own. But that’s a topic for next time.
Prayer: God, it feels
so good to succeed and it feels so bad to fail.
Thank you that you are able to use our efforts regardless of how we feel
about them. Help us to be faithful.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for struggling business owners you know today.
Song: Hillsong United
– So Will I – Pay close attention to the words of this song…so powerful.
No comments:
Post a Comment