If you’ve been in ministry longer than six months, you know that a bad day can tank your confidence and make you question your call. You know that one unfortunate event can distract you completely and that one piece of criticism can drain you until you start to believe the lie that you aren’t worth squat.
You know, like I do, that when something doesn’t go right, you can begin to question your effectiveness. And in those moments, even the best of us are tempted to throw in the towel.
Some of my best friends are going through paralyzing struggles right now. Some of the most faithful men I know are up against pressures that would drive most men to cry in a corner in fetal position.
I know what its like to want to quit after a bad day.
But don’t you ever forget that the great cloud of witnesses that are cheering you on didn’t quit. The faithful men and women who have gone before you fought tirelessly for years.
The Bible can be tough to read sometimes. We see stories of struggle just a couple verses away from stories of triumph. Our culture points us to immediate results. And if we’re not careful, we can read the Bible as a book of stories of people who saw results immediately.
But the Bible doesn’t record every day of every person’s journey. Some seasons were summed up in a couple verses. Some people had their whole lives summed up in a single sentence.
Decades. In one sentence.
Surely, there must have been days that nothing happened. Yet, they didn’t throw in the towel.
So, don’t think that you deserve your results today. Don’t expect them tomorrow. Stay grinding until God brings those results to pass. And let us never forget that Hebrews 11 ends with a phenomenally striking verse:
“And all these [faithful men and women], though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”
Hebrews 11:39-40
Don’t quit after one bad day. Don’t let that one person get under your skin. Don’t let that one unfortunate result kill your passion. Persevere. See it through. God is the Author and Perfecter of your faith and He isstill the One equipping you!
“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Hebrews 10:39