When I was a student at Elim, I was asked to lead the video ministry, which was just in the very beginning stages. The video department had only been going on for a year or two.
I didn’t even know it existed. And I was an online student, so all of the videos I had watched of the classes online were from a teacher who had set up a phone or a camera on a tripod, hitting the record button, and that was it.
But what they had started doing was making professional-looking videos for their online classes, which hadn’t been actually uploaded yet, and they wanted me to head the team to help make that happen. So I hadn’t worked on the team. I was going into it cold turkey. The person who asked me, who happened to be Diana’s uncle, knew that I was working on the video ministry for the church and was one of the “older” students, so they wanted someone with a little bit more maturity than the rest of the students. And I think taking this on coming from the perspective of having been an online student helped.
Another aspect of what they were doing was partnering with another ministry organization in Texas called World Impact Now or WIN, which has its own video-based university called Nation to Nation University, which teaches pastors in third-world countries.
We don’t think about it, but when missionaries go to other countries, they’ll go, convert people by the thousands, and then there will be no church for the newly converted. One missionary can only plant so many churches and pastor so many people, so new churches get planted and pastored by new Christians who don’t have solid training in the Word yet.
That’s where Nation to Nation and our videos at Elim came in, training those pastors and bringing the classroom to them rather than bringing them to the classroom.
So when I met the folks from WIN, they had come to help arrange the setup for me in a new editing studio and teach me how to set up and teardown in the classroom space. The editing studio and their personal studio across the hall from us were in a cold, damp basement in a building that dated to the 1850s and, by the way, closed and in need of dire repair, which it has gotten since I graduated. In fact, that building has been reopened.
But at the time, when our team was using it, there was no heat, so it was freezing in there, which was nice in the summertime when Caleb and I would trek up there and catch up on some editing. But in the wintertime, I can remember extension cords leading to these ancient space heaters (that were also probably pre-civil war). We weren’t sure if they would start a fire or not. And I can remember how it just seemed like we were so separated from the rest of the world. It was like we weren’t even on the same campus. It was like those scientific Antarctic outposts you see on TV. We were a stone’s throw from everyone, but we felt so alone and secluded in that basement.
We never got to see all the work that we had done accomplish anything while we were there. I don’t even remember how much of it got done. In fact, to this day, only the Foundations class can be seen on the school’s Youtube page. When I left, they hadn’t used any of what we had done for their online program, and last I knew, they still hadn’t used any of it. In fact, I think the only video team they have anymore is really for promoting the school and for chapel services. I’m sure they have something for the online classes; maybe it’s still like it was when I was there.
Now, WIN has used what they had recorded in their studio across the hall from us, and if you go to their Youtube page, you can watch samples. And I recorded something for Elim Fellowship–the head organization over the Bible school and the Elim churches, which went onto its website for a while. It had to do with informing churches of new IRS regulations regarding missionaries.
Having said that, as you know, we’ve been going through the Book of Hebrews, and we left off last week at Hebrews Chapter 6, verse 6. As we go a few verses down, I came across some verses that reminded me of a scripture from Hebrews that the video editor from WIN had written on the chalkboard in our editing room to encourage us while we were in the frozen dungeon. He knew all too well how secluded we were down there.
So turn with me to Hebrews chapter 6, and we’ll read verses 10 through 12.
As you’re turning there, I want to ask you, have you ever been in a situation like that? Where you’re thinking to yourself:
“Am I really doing what God wants me to do?” It’s hard to reconcile that question when we do not see any results, so then we start asking: “Am I wasting my time? Should I be focusing on something else?”
And then you feel tempted to quit. I don’t know about you, but I ask myself that question nearly every day in my driving job. They gave me a wheelchair van a couple of weeks ago. And it’s not one of those automatic lifts; it’s a regular van that has been retrofitted with a wheelchair ramp. You’d think that it would be fairly easy since it’s a regular-sized van, but it’s big and bulky, it doesn’t handle like a regular van, and I’d liken it to riding in a C-47 without all the cool stuff.
Not only that, but all their wheelchair bookings are in the Buffalo area, so I’ve been spending the past two weeks up there in this van, not knowing where in the world I’m going––thank goodness for GPS.
But it’s not fun. In fact, I’ve contemplated throwing in the towel and quitting. There’s a lot that’s been thrown at us in the past few months, especially with Medicaid regulations. And so frustration after frustration has been piling on, and now this. No one likes it. So much so that the company sent out an email stating that no one can refuse to drive a wheelchair van. If you’re assigned it, you’re assigned. It. That kind of makes me want to quit.
Why am I telling you this? Because I often wonder, “God, am I doing the right thing? Do you have me here for a reason?” And then, I can’t tell you how much God is using me there. I’ve used so many examples and illustrations in my sermons, and there are more that I haven’t said.
There are things Diana tells me about how God is using her at her work.
God sees us and knows what we are doing. And He will not forget the good work that we do for Him.
So let’s look at what scripture has to say.
Hebrews 6:10-12:
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
When you feel like you’re wasting your time, it doesn’t mean that you are. Feelings are not always the best barometer of reality. In the grand scheme of things, you might have one bad day, two bad days, or two bad years. In the grand scheme of things, when God calls us to do something, we should do it with grace, humility, and purpose. Even though we get discouraged, we must faithfully persevere, knowing that what we are doing is being seen and appreciated by God.
When I was asked to head the video ministry, I felt so honored to be asked to be part of something. To lead something. I mean, Wow! Someone has faith in me?
So, I had a sense of desire and determination. I didn’t have specific experience in this specific task, but I had enough experience to feel confident to learn. I sensed that God was in this. And that was and still is important. To sense that God is in whatever you’re doing. To sense that blessing and that peace and that calm assuredness. And that I went from one phase of video ministry to another; it just seemed to fit. It just seemed like God’s leading. This was a time in my life when apparently God wanted to use me in various forms of video ministry. Okay, I’m up to the challenge.
And I had placed my faith in God to see me through.
That’s the key for us to get started and to keep moving: Faith.
It’s also the key along the way when we get discouraged and don’t see the fruit.
The writer of Hebrews goes on in a later chapter to say:
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
Faith, confidence, hope, and assurance all go hand in hand. Moving forward in what God has called us to do requires all of those things. If we go back to our set of verses, some of those same words are used. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
So we must remember: When God calls us, and we answer yes. Our steps forward require us to have faith and to be faithful and diligent.
Paul said in Colossians 3:23-24
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Illustration: C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory.
The work of a Beethoven, and the work of a maid, become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being offered to God, of being done humbly “as to the Lord.” This does not, of course, mean that it is for anyone a mere toss-up whether he should sweep rooms or compose symphonies. A mole must dig to the glory of God and a cock must crow.
Our work, whether it’s seen by others and glorified by man, is irrelevant. Enduring Word Bible Commentary says that “Sometimes our fear that God forgot our work and labor of love comes from relying on the attention and applause of people. It is true that some people may forget your work and labor of love, but God never will.”
Just like working in the frozen dungeon of the editing studio. No one saw what we did or the fruits of our labor. That’s okay. I was asked, I was honored, and I believe God called me to do that. What was the end result? The more I think about it, the more I realize that the purpose of my being there was not about getting the videos done and uploaded, but I think the true purpose was something different. Actually, some things are different. Here are a few things that I can think of:
- Relationships
- Responsibility
- Memories
- Experience
- Maybe it was just a test of obedience
But you see, sometimes God gives us a job, and it’s not the job that’s the purpose. Sometimes something else is the purpose. Maybe the outcome is not the intended finished product. Maybe the finished product, in God’s eyes, is the development of our character or building relationships. Maybe we’re blessing people in a whole different way than expected.
I want to move on to another point and talk about how we might just see the end result that we have been looking for after all. Hebrews 6:11, the second verse we read: “11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.” When we feel like God has promised us that we will see that goal, that dream, that vision come to pass, we must not get so discouraged when we don’t that we quit. God is calling us to persevere. When it seems that we have been defeated, God cannot be defeated.
Galatians 6:9
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
And later on in Hebrews 12:1-3, we read:
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
I’ve shared this story a few times before, and it’s one of my favorites.
This is from the diary of John Wesley:
Sunday, A.M., May 5 Preached in St. Anne’s. Was asked not to come back anymore.
Sunday, P.M., May 5 Preached in St. John’s. Deacons said, “Get out and stay out.”
Sunday, A.M., May 12 Preached in St. Jude’s. Can’t go back there, either.
Sunday, A.M., May 19 Preached in St. Somebody Else’s. Deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.
Sunday, P.M., May 19 Preached on street. Kicked off street.
Sunday, A.M., May 26 Preached in meadow. Chased out of meadow as bull was turned loose during service.
Sunday, A.M., June 2 Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off the highway.
Sunday, P.M., June 2 Afternoon, preached in a pasture. Ten thousand people came out to hear me.
So the idea is that there must have been times when Wesley must have thought. God, where are you? What am I doing? Why am I here? Why am I experiencing so much failure? Are you there? And then, God came through. Like the Israelites marching around Jericho seven times. What’s going on? Then, God came through.
This is from the book 1776 by David McCullough: “The year 1776, celebrated as the birth year of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who carried the fight for independence forward a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that, too they would never forget.”
All throughout that book, the idea of perseverance kept cropping up. It was really perseverance on the part of Washington, on Congress, on the American soldier that gave us our freedom.
It is perseverance that God is calling us to. It is perseverance that this set of verses in Hebrews really boils down to. Persevering in our faith in God, persevering in our hope for things unseen and things eventually promised, and a knowledge that God is there, watching and rewarding our faithfulness.
When you read this carefully, you’ll see that God is not rewarding our outcome; he’s rewarding our faithfulness. The writer of Hebrews uses the phrase ‘diligence.’ And he says to imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit what has been promised.
It doesn’t really say that we inherit based on what our final outcome was. It doesn’t say that we inherit a reward based on how many people watched those videos or walked through the doors of this church or sat in the pews. We inherit based on our diligence. God is looking for the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
Here’s more from Enduring Word Bible Commentary:
“The writer of Hebrews encourages like a coach, pressing us to press on. We must keep up our good work; press on with that hope until the end; and imitate those who inherit (not earn) God’s promises. When we fail to do this, discouragement often makes us become sluggish.”
Remember, discouragement is the devil’s most used tool. This is a spiritual warfare issue. Satan does not want you to be effective for the kingdom of God. He is going to discourage you. He is going to want to make you give up.
It goes on to say “The idea is that we should not let discouragement make us sluggish, leading to the sense that we may as well give up. First we lose the desire to press on, then we lose the desire to go on.”
So, how does all of this apply to you? I’ve talked plenty about myself and used my personal experiences this morning. But how about you? We are each in a different situation. What hope have you placed your faith in that seems like it’s not taking shape, that seems like you keep working toward, but are not seeing it bear fruit?
Have you felt like you’ve been wasting your time? Does nobody seem to care? God isn’t helping at all?
If you get discouraged, remind yourself that Satan loves that. But The Holy Spirit is waiting to fill you with determination and encouragement. And so are we. All of us in this church are eager to encourage you.
And never mind the earthly rewards; there might not be any. But God has a heavenly reward. And it’s the diligence that he’s rewarding. God is going to reward your due diligence. Your part in the process. Your place in the assembly line of God’s work.
Think about all of the Sunday morning services and all of the people that have come and gone in this building over the past 135 years. No one can possibly claim that they have seen the end result of what has been and will be done in this building. The ministries of this church alone are a continual process, Lord willing, until His return.
We, myself included, need to be reminded that God sees what we are doing. God hears what we are doing. And he is not unjust.
I’d like to close by paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln:
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us…to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here [spiritually speaking] have thus far so nobly advanced.
Lord, we ask that you would send us your Holy Spirit to remind us that when we get discouraged, when we don’t see the results of our work, Lord remind us that you see it. Remind us that you have a plan, that maybe, the end result could be years down the line. Maybe we are just one person who is at a certain place for a certain time and it will be finished by someone else; maybe it will never be finished. Remind us that the reason for doing what we do is not always for our benefit, but for your glory, out of obedience, to bless others.
Lord, I pray that you will fill us with diligence and perseverance to continue when we feel discouraged. When we feel, often falsely, that no one cares. Encourage us through relationships and fill us with joy as we work for a heavenly reward, not an earthly reward.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on First Baptist Church of Watkins Glen
Featured Image by Marc Kleen on Unsplash
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