Don't Give Up
Pastor John Fredericksen
Being
in the pastorate can be discouraging. After all, you are an obvious
target for criticism. The messages are always too long or too short, you
use too many illustrations or not enough, the content is too deep or
too shallow, you stand too strongly on biblical truth or not strongly
enough, and so it goes. On one occasion, I had a Christian leader
harshly dress me down in public for 45 minutes and accused me of a
variety of things I simply had not done. He only thought I had done
them. I left that meeting so discouraged; I just wanted to give up the
ministry, and maybe even give up walking with the Lord. Thankfully, He
sent me encouragement when I needed it most.
Being
discouraged spiritually isn’t exclusive to pastors either. All
believers encounter this at one time or another. You can almost feel the
sorrow of heart when you read the testimonies of God’s men of the past.
David wrote: “I had fainted…” (Psa. 27:13), Jeremiah said: “When I
would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me” (Jer.
8:18), and Jonah said: “…my soul fainted within me” (Jonah 2:7). They
were so discouraged and spiritually weakened that they simply felt like
giving up. Thankfully, these servants of God did not give up, and there
is much to learn from what carried them through.
ates
to us how he found the strength to carry on: “I remembered the LORD:
and my prayer came in unto Thee, into Thine holy temple” (Jonah 2:7).
Coupled with obedience to God’s will, his discouragement turned when he
stayed his mind on the Lord in prayer. Similarly, Isaiah proclaims: “But
they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength…they shall run,
and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
As you can see, Isaiah also found it helpful to focus his thoughts on
the Lord through prayer.
The
Apostle Paul had opposition from without and from within the company of
believers, and had much to be discouraged about, but he didn’t quit.
His testimony was: “seeing we have this ministry…we faint not” (II Cor.
4:1). He kept his heart focused on serving the Savior, with Galatians
6:9 in mind: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season
we shall reap, if we faint not.” Simply put, heaven and reward from the
Savior strengthened the resolve of this servant. It can for us too.
re you discouraged spiritually? Don’t quit! Pray, focus on the importance of serving Christ, and rejoice in future reward!
By Les Feldick
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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