A missionary couple supported by our church, Dave and Marcia Darlin (Hong Kong), wrote the following in an email dated November 2004: “Last year one of our members, a medical doctor, took a series of exams that would allow her a higher level of medical practice. She failed them. Instead of cutting back on her service in the church to prepare for her second try, she increased her service. She also added a three-hour Bible course to her schedule. Moreover, when two of those exams came on a Sunday afternoon, she did not miss church. The results? 1) Her influence among young adults has helped move them forward, spiritually. 2) She passed her exams. We have mentioned her in other JOURNAL NOTES updates. It has been a blessing to be her pastor.”
Blessing indeed! It is always an unspeakable joy to any pastor or mentor to see that kind of faithfulness to Christ and His Church on the part of a disciple of our Lord Jesus. And, speaking of faithful, there have been many outstanding examples that have encouraged those who have followed after them. Consider:
For seven years, William Carey, considered the “father of modern missions,” labored faithfully in India before he baptized his first convert. Carey once said, “I am just a plodder.” Well, by faithfully plodding, he translated all or part of the Bible into 34 languages and dialects in his 40 years of laboring in India!
A dying soldier asked a chaplain to write his former Sunday School teacher: “Tell her that I’m a Christian because of what she taught me in Sunday School.” He sent the message and received the following reply, “Last month I resigned my Sunday School class, for I felt my teaching had been fruitless. And then came the message from my former pupil. May God forgive me for my impatience and lack of faith. I will ask my pastor to let me teach again, and I promise by God’s grace not to quit.” (Our Daily Bread)
Speaking of not quitting, I love this story that I came across years ago:
“The old Scots minister climbed wearily into the pulpit. Bowed and dejected, he had just faced the harsh criticism of one of his deacons. ‘Sir there is something radically wrong with your ministry. Only one person has been saved this year, and he is only a boy.’
“The words stung him, for he too felt heartbroken that so few had responded to the gospel; yet still he trusted God for the results.
“The service concluded, but the weary man of God lingered on in the church, wondering if there was any point continuing in the ministry. A young lad saw him and waited behind.
“Please, sir….
“Yes, Robert?
“Do you think if I worked hard for my education that I could ever become a preacher?
“‘God bless you, my boy,’ replied the old man with tears in his eyes. ‘Yes, I think you will become a preacher!’
“It was years later that an elderly missionary came back to London from Africa. He had pushed back the boundaries of geographical knowledge and brought savage chiefs under the influence of the gospel of Peace, given tribes the Bible in their own tongues; but most of all he had followed the Lord with all of his heart. Robert Moffat, ‘only a boy,’ won to Christ by a tired old man—had become a soul winner!
“On one visit to England, Robert told of the need of Africa. Among those who heard him that day was a young Scottish medical student who had given his life to God for missionary service. Robert Moffat’s words pierced his heart: ‘There is a vast plain to the north where I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.’
“Filled with the vision of what God wanted him to do, the student asked Mr. Moffat, ‘Would I do for Africa?’ The direction of David Livingstone’s life had been changed.
“Who can tell what impact was made through the ministry of the first old Scotsman? ‘Only a boy’ it seemed—yet far-off generations and tribes knew the effect of it! You never know what God is doing through your witness. Do not be discouraged. Trust and pray on!” (copied)
“Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” (I Cor. 4:2
YOU and GOD 