Run the Race
I am all about getting results and getting them quickly. When I take an exam, I want my grade posted an hour later. When I begin a task, I can't think of anything else until I finish it. When I learn something new, I want to immediately implement it in my life. Likewise, if I notice a failure in someone else, I want them to immediately correct it in their life. :) I'm not exactly known as a patient person.
This often translates into the way I view ministry, as well. I don't like to wait around for things to change or for God to move. I don't understand when I pour my heart and soul into an event to have it seemingly fail, or when I spend so much time and energy walking through the gospel with someone just to have them take two steps back.
But, like He usually does, God has been using this summer to turn my view upside-down.
Most college students are pretty mobile. We are in a college town for 4 years, then most of us move on to a new thing. Even within those 4 years, we may live in several different places or move around from activity to activity. We don't think much about planting roots in a specific place.
Maybe we should.
The problem is that I'm often so short-term. If something doesn't happen quickly, I often assumed that I failed. This is a common problem with short-term mission trips, as well. For example, I spent my last two Christmas breaks in Cambodia. God was definitely at work in me, in my team, and in the people we interacted with. However, I didn't think I was seeing enough results. I had the feeling that I could have done more. But just today, I spent 3 hours with my friend Krystyn who just spent half her summer in Cambodia. They saw many people come to Christ, and most of them were as a result of someone who had previously shared the gospel with them. Krystyn's stories pointed me back to 1 Corinthians 3:
What then is Apollos? What then is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
It doesn't matter how much or how little I do. I am not the author of salvation. God is. And it doesn't matter if I see results. God is working out His plan in His timing. It could take 70 years for a person to believe; it could take one day. The point is, I'm not in control of that, and God doesn't measure results the same way I do. My job is to be obedient and to share who Christ is. And who knows? I may get to see fruit. But regardless, my job is to persevere, just as Galatians 6:9-10 says And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.
Being part of the Gospel Project Norman has caused me to think about my own 4 years in Norman. What have I done that will leave a lasting impact on the people I have interacted with and on this city? Sure, chances are that I won't live my entire life here. But I'm here now. I'm also part of a great church family that will still be here. The gospel will still be here. So I have a part to play. I may not see the fruit if I don't remain in Norman, but that doesn't mean that God won't take my obedience and use it to His glory. I have plenty of opportunities to plant roots and to serve my city.
Everyone has heard the saying that life is not a sprint but is instead a marathon. It may be cliche, but it's true. I love the illustration of the links that I have heard several times: A person's life is a series of links in a chain. Each link is useful and necessary. No matter where we are in a person's journey, we have a role to play.
I want to live my life with endurance and to trust that God is working all things for good. I want to finish the fight and run the race. I want to be bold and confident, sharing and doing good, but instead of trusting my ability, trusting God with the outcome.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2
What then is Apollos? What then is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
It doesn't matter how much or how little I do. I am not the author of salvation. God is. And it doesn't matter if I see results. God is working out His plan in His timing. It could take 70 years for a person to believe; it could take one day. The point is, I'm not in control of that, and God doesn't measure results the same way I do. My job is to be obedient and to share who Christ is. And who knows? I may get to see fruit. But regardless, my job is to persevere, just as Galatians 6:9-10 says And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.
Being part of the Gospel Project Norman has caused me to think about my own 4 years in Norman. What have I done that will leave a lasting impact on the people I have interacted with and on this city? Sure, chances are that I won't live my entire life here. But I'm here now. I'm also part of a great church family that will still be here. The gospel will still be here. So I have a part to play. I may not see the fruit if I don't remain in Norman, but that doesn't mean that God won't take my obedience and use it to His glory. I have plenty of opportunities to plant roots and to serve my city.
Everyone has heard the saying that life is not a sprint but is instead a marathon. It may be cliche, but it's true. I love the illustration of the links that I have heard several times: A person's life is a series of links in a chain. Each link is useful and necessary. No matter where we are in a person's journey, we have a role to play.
I want to live my life with endurance and to trust that God is working all things for good. I want to finish the fight and run the race. I want to be bold and confident, sharing and doing good, but instead of trusting my ability, trusting God with the outcome.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2
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