How else do you finish well and build your faith?
#3. Resist all Discouragement
I know there are some of you who are discouraged.(I fight discouragement on a regular basis) Some of you may be discouraged about your health, about your finances, about your marriage. You may be discouraged about your children or your desire to get married, or your desire to have children or your desire to change jobs. You may be discouraged about your finances, a personal problem. Whatever you’re discouraged about I'm sorry. But as your pastor I need to be honest with you and tell you something - you have a choice. It’s your choice.
You are discouraged because you are choosing to be discouraged and that is your choice. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head. Nobody is forcing you to feel discouraged. Discouragement is always a choice just like any other attitude. If you’re feeling down, if you feel like quitting, if you feel like giving up it is because you’re choosing to think discouraged thoughts.
You don’t have to. In fact, the Bible says don’t do that. It says to do the opposite. It says fight the discouragement. Resist the discouragement. Move against in. Discouragement is Satan’s favorite tool in making you ineffective. If he can get you discouraged, you’re locked up. Forget it! You’re history.
I want us to look at the verse I shared with you yesterday - Galatians 6:9. “Let us not get tired of doing what is right for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.”
Notice it says don’t get tired of doing what is right. How many of you get tired of doing what is right? Why? Because it is easier to do what is wrong. If doing what is wrong was hard, nobody would do it. It is easier to be undisciplined than disciplined. It is always easier to lie than to tell the truth. It is easier to be selfish than it is to be unselfish.
Notice what else the verse says - it says don’t get tired of doing what is right “for after a while (notice this phrase) we will reap a harvest of blessing” if we don’t give up. Why is this so key? God doesn’t always do what we want him to on our time table.
Habakkuk 2:3 (LB) says, "But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!"
So what do you do during or after that “after a while” time? When you’ve done the right thing but you haven’t seen the reward yet, what do you do in that after a while time. It says, “… keep on doing what is right.” You keep on doing the right thing. You Don’t give up. You do the right thing even when it seems like there’s no good out of it, no results out of it. Nothing is changing. You keep on going on.
One of the great tests of faith is how you handle the “after a while” time. When you’re doing the right thing and you don’t see the immediate reward , the immediate results. What do you do when you do the right thing for weeks, months, even years and nothing happens. Do you have a pity party and invite yourself? Do you start complaining? Do you start griping? Do you start saying, “Forget it! I'm going to give up. This isn’t worth it.”
The Bible says resist that discouragement. Folks, I’d be lying to you if I gave you the impression you could do this on your own – you can’t. I can’t. You have to plug into God’s power. Anybody who memorized Ephesians 3:20 knows this.
You may be in a situation right now where you’re thinking, “I can’t take it anymore! I’ve had it. I'm at the quitting point. I'm ready to throw in the towel. I'm at the end of my rope. I'm ready to give up. I can’t take it anymore.”
But you can. You can if you will you renew yourself every day. If you’re going to last over the long haul you must figure out how to recharge yourself - both physically and spiritually.
FIRST, you’ve got to learn daily physical renewal. Psalm 127:2 in the Living Bible says, “God wants His loved ones to get their proper rest.” Many of you are violating that. You know, the first part of this verse says, “It is stupid for you to get up so early and stay up so late for God wants His loved ones (His children) to get their proper rest.” Discouragement is a by product of being drained physically. Vince Lombardi said “Fatigue makes cowards of all of us.” When you’re tired you get discouraged. What’s the answer? REST! SLEEP! I went to the beach last Friday just for that.
The SECOND, you need daily spiritual renewal. 2 Corinthians 4:16 “This is why we never give up. Our spirits are being renewed every day.” How does that happen? The way you get spiritual renewal is by spending time with God. The secret of persistence, the secret of endurance, the secret of finishing what you start is spending time with God every day.
Hebrews 12:2 says “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross!” Jesus had to face something far worse than you’re facing yet He didn’t give up. Why? He knew the reason and He knew the rewards. When you plug into His power you will have the power of persistence.
You need more than your own power to make it in life. You need God’s power. You need Jesus’ power. You need to depend on Him. You need to rely on Him. You need to trust in Him. You need to give yourselves completely to Him. That’s called faith.
My hope as your pastor is at the end of your life you will be able to stand before God in heaven and say to Him what the apostle Paul was able to say at the end of his life. “I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” That is my prayer, my desire, my wish for you. I pray we all will FINISH WELL!
I love you guys. Stay faithful Stay the course. ENDURE!
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