Weariness
February 24, 2019
1 Corinthians 1:26-29
26 Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one can boast in His presence. [1 Corinthians 1:26-29]
I used to like to watch different preachers Sundays before I would go to church, back before I became one. I remembered one sermon this minister preached about fighting through the “weariness test”. He said we all go through the weariness test, times when you feel like “I’m so tired” or you question yourself “can I keep doing this?” The old soldiers used to call it “battle fatigue” now it’s referred to as PTSD. Now I don’t want to offend anyone fighting battles in faraway lands dodging bullets, but he said, “yes I do feel a little ‘fatigued’ at times but the King James says in Galatians 6:9; “9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” I told him I believe that and it keeps me going. What also keeps me going is my firm belief that God doesn’t call the equipped He equips the called. That’s why I picked the scripture from 1 Corinthians today because I believe that’s the basis for that saying.
We both as most ministers do share in times where we question if we are being effective in delivering the messages God gives us. he said “I would give anything to not be going through this now, not in the sense of I don’t want to serve God, but in the sense of I wish I didn’t have to deal with this. I don’t regret being here serving but I wish I could get people to see what God shows me about how people in the church act like those outside the church. Even if I had known when I was called that this was coming, I would still be here, you don’t get to choose to answer God’s Call.
I related to him that one of the songs I like is a Dave Koz rendition of a Garth Brooks tune, The Dance. It tells the story of a love lost, a love so strong that the song says even if he knew he was going to lose the love, it was worth going through the pain of the loss to feel the joy of the love. I totally understand him and like him I wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to have had this dance.
My message today is no matter how weary we get we must learn to fight the battle until God calls us to do something else or He calls us home.
I mentioned to him that ministry is all about the parable of the soils and we all have to deal with too many of those seeds falling on the wrong soil. My wife who was there looked at me and asked “Pastor, what do you always preach?” That’s what she does, she always asks the right questions at the right time. My answer and the thing I and my friend needed to hear is “We don’t always get to see the harvest, but we also don’t get to choose the soil into which we plant the seed. So to any of you who may be feeling weary and discouraged in not seeing your harvest, trust God’s word; 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 3:13-14] Keep fighting; “9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” [Galatians 6:9]
~ Pastor Floyd
If you have questions or comments about this post please email Pastor Floyd at pastorfloyd@fsbcpahrump.com