Cheers

I frequently receive letters from people who are discouraged. One wrote the other day that he was very discouraged in his ministry. I think that if we were to do even a cursory analysis of what the Bible has to say about discouragement, we would soon discover that the root cause of it is satan. In fact the Bible refers to him, among other things as the “discourager”.

The next time you get discouraged understand where it is coming from and if your ministry is being affected, then feel honored because you have probably touched a nerve. Satan certainly does not want you to be successful in a ministry and will do everything within his power, which is considerable, to bring you down.

I think the best tool that we have in our arsenal is faith. Noah preached over a hundred and twenty years without one convert, right up until the day he loaded up his family and got ready for the boat ride of his life. Did “his” ministry fail? Do you think Noah was discouraged?

Noah had faith. The stubbornness of the world, Noah’s unending faith, God’s willingness to patiently wait and keep extending an offer of redemption over and over again in spite of the world’s rejection of his grace, and His patience finally running out, followed by His destruction of the world and everything in it save those few righteous souls who had faith in Him are all now recorded forever for us to study and from which to glean lessons. In fact they have never been more poignant than today.

As in Noah’s day, this world is rapidly moving towards the end and as the Bible predicts, people are acting similarly to the way they did in Noah’s day. Preachers preach their hearts out with little result. The world turns more and more evil and the hearts of many grow cold just as it was foretold thousands of years ago. I saw on the news where many now believe the solution to the economic meltdown for our global economy is a singular global currency and world monetary system. The Bible states that in the End Days we will go to just such a system and that the antichrist will rule over it. It is not a surprise to me that it is happening because I have faith in the Bible. I heard that Russia and Iran are forming a new alliance. That too is predicted in the Bible. Guess what? They will invade Israel and be miraculously and soundly defeated when they try. Reading the Bible is like reading a newspaper.

The Chambers brothers had a song out in the early 60’s called “People Get Ready”. I love that song. The lyrics tell us that a train is a coming and we should just get on board. People ignored Noah when he urged them with every ounce of his fiber to do just that, to get on board. They ignored him and continued partying and drinking, and who knows what else right up until the day the Lord said, “Enough!”

To a person they were destroyed and he and his meager congregation were saved. Noah did his part and has nothing to be discouraged about and neither do any of you who are out there trying to win souls for the Lord. Those who should be discouraged are the ones who are not doing anything to win souls for the Lord. Whether people accept or reject Jesus is not within our control. That is between the Holy Spirit of God and them. We are charged with telling the Gospel and our job begins and ends there.

When discouraged first recognize from whence it is coming, (below and not above). Second have faith. Understand that God might be working a mighty thing in your life that will be revealed in its due course on His timetable and not ours. Third we need to understand that our ministry is not entirely our ministry. It is God’s ministry. We need to do our part and then pray that we are within His will for our lives and that our efforts will be blessed.

I would love to see millions of people come to the Lord through hearing of the wonderful miracle that God performed when He transformed my life. It is not about me; it is about what God did in my life and thus it is God’s ministry. Maybe not one single soul will come to the Lord through it, but I will keep on to the bitter end. I have faith that God will work another miracle in my life and use me to inspire others to know Him or perhaps confront someone who rejected Him at some point and tell them that they have no excuse that they have heard the plan of salvation explained to them in detail and chose to reject His Son. Either way God’s purpose for my testimony will be fulfilled, thus I should not be discouraged if I do not hit my personal goals.

One final thing, I do not think it is wrong to have personal goals concerning what you want to accomplish for the Lord before joining Him in heaven. I set my goals high. Before you scoff at my lofty ambitions and ridicule me for saying it, remember that Jesus said that if we even have faith as much as a tiny mustard seed, we can tell a mountain to move and it will obey. Is there anything that is beyond God’s ability to make something happen? I think not.

Hmmm Do you think our problem is that we do not have enough faith?

Matt. 17:20
“Assuredly I say to you,
if you have faith as a
mustard seed, you will say to
this mountain, Move from here
to there,’ and it will move and
nothing will be impossible for you.