Spiritual Formation

Psalm 119:11, 97-100

Thus far this year, we’ve looked at several necessary disciplines for spiritual formation to take place in our lives: Bible reading, communion with God (i.e., prayer), gathering with believers on the Lord’s Day, serving others, and periods of solitude. The spiritual discipline I want to discuss today is at the very heart of how Christ is formed in our lives. You might work some or all of the other disciplines into your life, but if this one is missing, all of the others will lack the vibrancy and vitality God intends you to experience in your spiritual life.

The two things I like best about the work that I do as a pastor are introducing people to Jesus Christ and watching new believers develop in their walk with God. These two things together should remind us that seeing people come to faith in Christ alone does not complete our mission. The task we’ve been left to do is “make disciples” that obey all that Jesus commanded them (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). Consequently, what happens after a person receives Christ is as important to the fulfillment of our God-given mission as the initial decision of the person to trust Jesus as Savior.

Paul uses the image of a mother’s “travail” to illustrate the toil that takes place in a pastor’s heart until Christ is formed in those he leads. He says...

My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you… (Galatians 4:19)

In other words, just as a mother “labors” to bring new life into the world, so Paul “labors in birth AGAIN (!!) until Christ is formed in you.” The process didn’t end with the new birth! It isn’t complete until Christ is “formed” in those that claim to know Jesus. That is sometimes a difficult and painful process to see accomplished.

As your pastor, that’s my desire for each of you and the reason I “labor again” in these messages so that you can know the fullness that God intends for you to experience in following Jesus. Jesus called you to something more meaningful and challenging than just escaping Hell. He has called you to a higher purpose that involves giving you “life more abundant.” It won’t be converts alone that will change our world, it will be disciples that have allowed Christ to be formed in them that will change our world.

The problem, as I see it, is that we have too many people that claim to know Jesus but have very little evidence of the reality that comes from Christ being formed in them. There has been very little significant change, if any, that has happened, since they say they began following Jesus.

I suppose that there are several possible causes for this happening, but primary among them is the reality that most Christians have never been taught how to let Christ be formed in them. That’s why I want to discuss with you a spiritual discipline that is at the HEART (!!) of the kind of Christlike development we should all desire in our lives.

I’m talking about the spiritual discipline of meditation, but please don’t think of it as meditation that is found in many eastern religions. In their religious practices they seek to empty their minds of everything that keeps them from “a state of relaxed awareness.” Their practice is actually very dangerous and potentially opens a person’s mind to the demonic realm...which is a subject for another message.

When the Bible speaks of meditation it is talking about FOCUSING our minds or filling them with the right kinds of thoughts. Since the mind is essential to our spiritual development, we will see the transformation of our lives only as we see the transformation of our thinking. Listen to a paraphrase of a well-known passage of scripture that explains how this process works.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2 MSG)

I think this paraphrase is helpful for at least two reasons:

1. It reminds us that the people in whom Christ is being formed will be increasingly less comfortable with the culture of the world around them. There will be an ever-increasing distinction between the secular cultural in which they live and the Christ that is being formed in them. One of the greatest problems we have with spiritual formation is that we “fit (so comfortably) into [our culture] without even thinking” about how Christ’s Word calls us to a different kind of culture.

2. This paraphrase also hints at the basic meaning of Christian meditation in the words, “...fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.” Rather than letting the culture around us shape our thinking, we are encouraged to be increasingly shaped in our thinking by the scripture. Simply put...as we meditate on scripture, we start to think more like Christ and less like our culture.

The fact is that someone or something is going to shape the way you think. It can be the scripture or it can be a hodgepodge of ideas that you have jumbled together to establish your eclectic worldview. This shaping process very often involves the media we listen to, watch and read, as well as the educational system that has our attention for hours and days at a time.

Can I just say to all our students, no matter what university (or high school) you attend, there will inevitably be people actively seeking to change the way you think...that can be good or that can be bad, depending on the content they are teaching you. College campuses are especially viewed as the “womb” from which modern culture is birthed. Parents wonder why their children go off to college as believers and come home agnostics or worse, but the answer is often very simple and I’ll show you what it is.

There is an insightful book written by Rosaria Butterfield entitled, "The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey into the Christian Faith.” Dr. Butterfield was a tenured professor of English at Syracuse University. She served in their English Department and Women's Studies Program from 1992 to 2002. She was also living in an immoral relationship with another woman. Her story of how she came to Christ and how her life was dramatically changed by Him is a fascinating read. I strongly encourage you to find out more about her story and/or check out her website.

What I want you to see comes from something she writes in her book concerning how a tenured professor and department head was able, along with the other academics in her department, to control the flow of ideas in her classroom and thus, shape her student’s thinking processes.

She writes, “As a feminist scholar, this concept—worldview—was the most important concept in my intellectual arsenal. Worldview is central to feminist studies and to any field of study that analyzes oppressed or marginalized peoples. It helps us to understand how interpretations come from the frames of intelligibility that we use to look at the events that matter. Critical perspective asserts that we make meaning out of our lives not by personal experience but by the frames through which we filter that experience. On my Women’s Studies 101 syllabus, I wrote this about critical perspective:

“NB (nota bene, or, “note well”): Students are expected to write all papers and examination essay questions from a feminist worldview or critical perspective. In Spanish class you speak and think in Spanish. In Women’s Studies you speak and think in feminist paradigms. Examination essay questions written from critical perspectives outside of feminism will receive an automatic grade of F. Papers written from critical perspectives outside of feminism will be allowed one revision. Any student who is unable to write and think from a feminist critical perspective or worldview with a clear conscious should drop the class now.

“How did I get away with this?” she asks. “The secular academic world is bold in its protection of worldview. And, I and all of my feminist colleagues put this statement on our syllabi. We worked as a block. We comprised an interpretive community. An interpretive community consciously and intentionally protects its way of thinking. This is how important worldview is to education—of all stripes and colors. And this is how important interpretive community is to worldview. We do not make meaning in isolation.”

This is a stunningly honest revelation that many people simply don’t know is happening in our college classrooms and departments. The whole idea is to focus the minds of students on secular values and ideals that ultimately gives birth to the emerging culture around us. What she writes is a bold acknowledgment that could likely be repeated about many college classrooms/departments across the country, thus exposing how the thinking of students is shaped to give us the various facets of our present culture.

Again, what this illustrates is that someone or something is going to shape how and/or what you think. That’s why I’m telling you about the importance of allowing the scripture to shape your thinking so that what is birthed in you is an ever-increasing Christlikeness, rather than the secular culture of this age. This is the process that Paul was describing for us earlier in the paraphrase of Romans 12:1-2.

Before moving on with the discussion of meditation and it’s importance to believers that desire a growing spiritual life in Christ, let me quote one more time from Rosaria Butterfield's book about what happened after her conversion to Christ. She writes...

“When I became a Christian, I had to change everything—my life, my friends, my writing, my teaching, my advising, my clothes, my speech, my thoughts. I was tenured to a field that I could no longer work in. I was the faculty advisor to all of the gay and lesbian and feminist groups on campus. I was writing a book that I no longer believed in. And, I was scheduled in a few months to give the incoming address to all of Syracuse University’s graduate students. What in the world would I say to them?,” she asks.

And, in her book, she goes on to share that speech with the readers. She is a powerful testimony to our life-changing God and an illustration that the formation of Christ in you inevitably changes you!

All of this serves to demonstrate my point that meditating on scripture is vital for every believer that desires for Christ to be formed in him/her. The fact is...what controls your thought processes ultimately controls the way you approach and respond to life. Until we begin thinking the thoughts of God we will never see life from His point of view. This is the reason we have so many smart people, but so little real spiritual wisdom in our churches.

The references to meditation in scripture are so frequent that it would be impossible for us to see them all in a single sermon. However, there are two specific passages that I want us to look at because one of them emphasizes the blessings that accrue to those that develop this spiritual discipline and the other demonstrates a pattern for how to develop this spiritual discipline in our lives. Listen first to the words of the Psalmist…

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither;And whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3)

It would be a valuable discussion to talk about the opening verse of this Psalm. It is a caution about those that teach, advise and associate with us so as not allow them to determine our way of thinking, speaking and acting.

However, what I want you to see is the four-fold promise made in this Psalm to the person that meditates on God’s Law.

1. He says they will be planted by an abundant source of water. Water is always associated with life. Everything that lives needs water. To the person that meditates on His Word He promises an abundant supply of what is needed to thrive in our spiritual lives.
2. He says they will “bring forth...fruit” in their season. Fruit in the Old Testament can be a reference to the produce of the ground/trees, offspring of the womb, or actions that are successful. Meditation on God’s Word will make us fruitful believers, as John 15 describes...and it won’t be something manufactured or manipulated by our own resources.
3. He says the leaves of this tree won’t wither, meaning they won’t dry up...lose their freshness, vitality or beauty. As a result of meditating on God’s Word, every aspect of our being is strengthened and invigorated.
4. He says that what they do will “prosper” (cf. Joshua 1:8). Thayer's lexicon defines this word as, "to rush, to advance, prosper, make progress, succeed, be profitable." The Gesenius Lexicon defines this Hebrew word as, "to go over or through, (as a river)." It is interesting that in Isaiah 55:11, this same Hebrew word is used to describe God's Word, "it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Meditating on God’s Word helps us succeed and accomplish the things He has given us to do.

All four of these word pictures overlap in some ways and are synonymous with the “blessed” life. Let’s not draw too great a distinction between them. Their intended purpose is to invite the reader to allow scripture to shape their thinking so they can experience the abundant life. When we meditate on scripture we begin to see God at work in our lives in significant ways. There is an empowerment and vitality that comes to our lives from making God’s thoughts our thoughts and God’s ways our ways.

It is a bewildering paradox that in a day when the Bible is accessible to vast numbers of people, it is so marginalized in too many of our lives. On the one hand technology has brought God’s Word to our phones, tablets and computers. We have immediate access to multiple versions of the Bible, as well as a wealth of material to study the scripture...in the palms of our hands. However, this same technology threatens to distract us and drown out the voice of God in our lives. We are a culture obsessed with noise and most of us are comfortable with the “clutter” of our daily lives. So many sources are seeking access to our hearts and minds: TV, radio, online news feeds, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc., etc. It’s no wonder that more than ever we need to make time to meditate, to dwell on God’s Word. And the benefits of “pondering” His Word are a life filled with vitality from God and wisdom that transcends the intellect. It means becoming like a tree that is evergreen and alive, that is immune to the conditions of (intellectual) drought found so frequently in our modern culture. It’s a discipline that makes you useful and fruitful in all you seek to do for Christ so that others are blessed by your presence...and more importantly, blessed by His presence in you!

The good news is that meditation doesn't have to be something complicated, but it does take time and effort. The hardest part may be for us to quiet our minds long enough to be able to think (REALLY THINK!!) about the scripture we just read in our daily Bible reading, but the Bible is filled with exhortations and instructions about doing this very thing.

Consider some examples of the practice of meditation. For instance, Mary was told by the shepherds about what they had seen and heard after they had found the Baby lying in the manger. They also told others about their experience that occurred while watching the sheep. Many people marvelled at the things they heard from the shepherds, but the scripture says…

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19)

When it says she “pondered” them, it means she meditated on them. She thought about them over and over again. She allowed herself to ruminate on (to think deeply about) the incredible things she had been told.

When Paul was giving his closing remarks to the believers at Philippi, he told them it was important where and on what they allowed their minds to dwell. He said...

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

When we read through the Psalms and we come to that oft repeated word, “Selah,” it causes us to pause for a moment. It is literally a musical “rest” that is placed at various points in a Psalm to make the performers and the audience stop so they will think about what they just sang or heard...to meditate on it.

J. Vernon McGee said about meditation, “We are to meditate on the Word of God... We are to allow the Word to shape our lives. My friend, God has no plan or program by which you are to grow and develop as a believer apart from His Word. You can become as busy as a termite in your church (and possibly with the same effect as a termite), but you won’t grow by means of activity. You will grow by meditating upon the Word of God—that is, by going over it again and again in your thinking until it becomes a part of your life. This is the practice of the happy (blessed) man.”

Warren Wiersbe said, "What digestion is to the body, meditation is to the soul. It is not enough merely to hear the Word or read the Word. We must inwardly “digest it” and make it part of our inner persons (see 1 Thessalonians 2:13)."

He also said, "Unless a Christian spends time daily in meditating on the Word of God, his inner man will lack power."

Dr. Paul Meier, a Christian psychiatrist and cofounder of the Minirth-Meier Clinic said, “Among the many tools I learned to use, by far the one that has been most valuable in helping people attain spiritual well-being is scripture meditation.”

As you can see from these scripture quotes and exhortations from others, meditating on scripture works to our benefit, is expected of those that are followers of Jesus, and is the means by which Christ is formed in our lives. To neglect this spiritual discipline is to neglect the source of all spiritual growth. It is here that the roots of our spiritual lives reach the life-giving waters of His Word that produce in us the fruitfulness and vitality of Christlike living.

But, someone might ask, “How do we go about meditating on God’s Word?” Well, the answer to that can be found in Psalm 77:11-12, where Asaph, one of the worship leaders of Israel, gives three basic truths about Biblical meditation. Listen to these verses from the ESV.

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. (Psalm 77:11-12 ESV)

In these two verses he uses three Hebrew words to describe what the Bible means when it speaks about meditation.

1. The first thing we do when we meditate is “remember” the “deeds of the Lord” and His “wonders of old.” The person who meditates seeks to bring back to memory the truth he has read and/or the works of God he has known. He makes a conscious effort not to forget what he has read and learned in the scripture (ex. Psalm 63:6; 143:5).
2. The second thing we do when we meditate is to “ponder” what we have read and learned from the scripture. The word literally means “to let resound.” It is used in Psalms 92:3 of the sound or tones of a musical instrument as it resonates. Consequently, we are to let the Word of God resonate/reverberate within us. Colossians 3:16 says it in a slightly different way...we are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly (i.e., be at home in us)!
3. The third thing we do when we “meditate” is we muse and wonder and dwell on—think deeply about, the Word of God. This Hebrew word used literally means to murmur, mumble or talk to yourself. The Puritans thought of meditation as “preaching to yourself.” When we meditate we take the Word of God that we hear and read, we mull it over in our minds, and we then bring it to bear upon our lives in personal exhortations.

Put another way, Biblical meditation consists of: (1) recalling the truth of God as it is contained in the Scriptures (information), (2) reflecting upon that truth frequently (meditation), and (3) responding to God in thanksgiving, worship, and obedience as you consider that truth (application).

Meditation itself is really not that hard, but it takes discipline to see it happen in your life! There will always be something else to listen to, watch, or read to distract us from this vital spiritual practice.

Meditating on God’s Word allows the scripture to become part of our lives in tangible ways that affect the way we view the world around us. It establishes a foundation in our lives for God to do an even greater work in us and through us. It empowers our lives by enabling us to see life from God’s point of view so we will make wise decisions that God can bless. It changes us from the inside out so that Christ is being formed in our lives.

Let me share a few practical thoughts about how to get started:

1. Read the scripture every day and don’t rush to get through the text.
2. Choose one or several scriptures from the passage you’ve read and put them in your notes app on your mobile device or write them on a card to carry with you.
3. When you are riding to work, laying down at night for bed, have a few minutes during your break at work...instead of dialing up your latest playlist, firing up your computer to surf the web, turning on the TV for the latest news, or reading another mind-numbing magazine article, recall the scripture you’re considering and focus your mind on it during that time.
4. Learn the practices of meditation...such as:: replace the pronouns and nouns with your name, ask what it teaches you about God, consider how it applies to your circumstances, take specific words in the verse(s) and ask deeper questions about them, think about how the original audience would have received those same words, turn the scripture into a song, read it out loud to yourself, pray the scripture back to God, find the promises, instructions, and exhortations that are given in the text, always ask yourself how the Gospel intersects with the passage, etc., etc.
5. Read the text you are meditating on from different translations and look up any words you don’t understand.
6. Look for a way each day to use what you learned from that particular scripture.
7. Write down your thoughts about the scripture and save them for future reference.
8. Don’t be discouraged if you miss a day or two. Pick up where you left off and keep developing the spiritual practice of meditating on God’s Word!

Never Give Up!

Galatians 6:6-10

Since we are going to jump into Paul’s letter to the Galatians at a point where he is bringing it to a close, I want to take a moment and tie the letter together for you with a brief overview.

In the first two chapters of the book, Paul is primarily concerned with defending his apostleship against the detractors that had called his ministry and message into question. Then, in the middle two chapters, he addresses the problems of mixing law and grace. Salvation was made possible by the death of Jesus Christ and the law is totally insufficient to justify a sinner. Seeing that faith has set the Galatians free from ritual observances, ceremonies and curses of the law, Paul asks why they would want to be put back under them. Finally, in the closing two chapters, he offers a warning about using Christian liberty as a license to sin. He explains that dependence on God and a daily walk with Him will produce in them the fruits of righteousness, all of which the law could never do on their behalf.

Having addressed these central issues, Paul closes with some general instructions and a final comparison of himself with the false teachers. It’s in these closing words of his general instructions that we want to focus our attention.

Because Paul’s concern was with false teachers that were promulgating error among the Galatians, he encouraged the believers to support those that were proclaiming the truth (Galatians 6:6-10). This is not an isolated instruction as Paul also spoke of it in other passages. (Ex. 1 Corinthians 9:5-23; 1 Timothy 5:17-18). He wanted them to understand that it was right to care for the needs of those that preached the truth to them and taught them the ways of God.

In other words, Paul’s instruction to “sow to the Spirit” and not “to his flesh” is first about using our resources in a fashion that demonstrates our primary interest in eternal things and those that bring these eternal truths to us. He challenges them to persevere and not quit providing for these faithful messengers, even if they have to wait until the Judgment Seat of Christ before realizing all the benefits of using their resources in this way.

However, this passage can also extend beyond just our financial resources invested in the work of God. These words of encouragement also include a general principle about ALL the “good” we are doing in the service of our Lord.

I think it is probably true for most of us, at times, to wonder if our efforts are really making an eternal difference. The larger question of this passage about “doing good” concerns our sowing spiritual seeds of faithful service that will eventually reap a harvest. It is a challenge to a relentless, tenacious and persevering spirit that refuses to quit, even when there are no immediate evidences that our faithfulness is producing results.

To be “weary” (6:9) has to do with being utterly spiritless and exhausted to the point of quitting. The Greek word is used six times in the New Testament and is translated as “lose heart” four times (Luke 18:1; 2 Corinthians 4:1, 16; Ephesians 3:13) and twice as “grow weary” (Galatians 6:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:13).

The weariness here described is of the type that leads to our abandoning tasks we have been given or called to do. One Lexicographer writes, “One’s perseverance must not weaken in service...since the harvest will result from our doggedness; a relaxation of effort would be disastrous.” (Spicq, C., & Ernest, J. D. [1994]. Theological lexicon of the New Testament [Vol. 1, p. 399]. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.)

In other words, what God wants from us is a relentless perseverance and a refusal to quit in our service of sowing spiritual seeds of service to God. The reason for such perseverance is because He knows we will eventually reap the benefits, if we don’t "lose heart" first.

Some scholars believe that Paul was including himself in this word of encouragement because he uses the first person plural in 6:9, which seems to indicate that he was one of those that needed this word from God. In light of the fact that he had expended so much effort on the churches of Galatia, it is likely that he also needed this reminder not to quit since his efforts would prove worthwhile in the end.

There are at least six common things that can potentially “weary” us in the work God has given us do. Let’s consider each of them and find encouragement to not “lose heart” while awaiting the rewards/results we desire from our labors.

Physical Exhaustion

The first of these is pretty easy to understand...physical exhaustion. There is an old Greek proverb that says, “You will break the bow if you keep it always bent.” It was Vince Lombardi, the former coach of the Green Bay Packers that said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” (David Rooper, A Beacon in the Darkness, P. 163) Sometimes we just go on working without enough rest and in the process become physically weary in the work we are doing.

The prophet Elijah is an example of someone that became physically exhausted in his service to God and lost heart for a time. He had long been public enemy #1 because of his confrontations with his own people, as well as the prophets of Baal over their idolatry. There was the ongoing battle he had with the evil King Ahab and Jezebel that must have been emotionally exhausting. Then there was the epic battle on Mount Carmel when he called down fire from Heaven, thus proving that Jehovah was the only true God.

Following that event, Elijah ran about 25 miles from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel. He then went another 100 miles or so from Jezreel to Beersheba and then travelled an additional 15 to 20 miles out into the wilderness. Altogether, Elijah travelled about 130 to 150 miles in a short amount of time and was no doubt physically and emotionally spent.

It’s interesting what God does for him before recommissioning him to His service (1 Kings 19:1-8). Immediately after all of the events on Mt. Carmel, the threats of Jezebel and the long distance he travelled, God allowed Elijah to sleep.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is SLEEP because physical exhaustion can cause us to grow “weary” in the service of our God. If that’s your situation today, then by all means, block off some time to give your body and mind some rest.

Inferiority Feelings

There is also the matter of inferiority feelings that can contribute to a person becoming “weary in doing good.” I don’t think very many of us think we are capable in ourselves of handling all that God has called us to do. It’s not unusual to feel as though someone else has better skills and can do a better job than us. Our tendency is to look around and see other people that we feel are far more capable than we are to do a particular job (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:12).

Actually, those feelings of insufficiency can be positive, if we allow them to make us more dependent on God! Nothing can more quickly destroy what you are doing than thinking you are capable in yourself of doing His work in your own strength.

Moses battled with feeling of inferiority when God called him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He kept making excuses why he couldn’t fulfill the calling of God on his life, but it all basically boiled down to his own sense of insufficiency. Moses had been raised in Egypt, had attended the best schools of his day, and would have been well-trained in many areas of leadership. In spite of all this, he didn’t feel he was a good speaker or qualified to go before the Pharaoh of Egypt. Consequently, God had to remind him that He had made Moses’ mouth and He could make him speak exactly what He wanted said.

Before being too harsh with Moses, haven’t most of us felt like this at times? What we learn as the story continues is that Moses was more than capable of speaking before the Pharaoh, but he allowed his feelings of inferiority to prevent his immediate obedience to God’s will.

If God calls you to something, He will provide you the means to accomplish it!

Constant Opposition

We can also become weary “while doing good” when we are constantly harassed and opposed by those that refuse to support what we are doing. Nothing can make us "lose heart" more quickly than the constant nitpicking of people who can seemingly find something wrong in nearly everything we do. And, they don’t usually stop at just disagreeing with our methods, they inevitably attack our motivations, as well. Those constant verbal jabs, cutting remarks and stubborn attitudes take their toll and can cause people to become “weary” in their work. The old saying about “words will never hurt you” is really a lie because the things people say and do can wound us so deeply that we sometimes just want to quit.

No one understands these kinds of bitter attacks better than our Savior Himself. He was constantly followed by the religious establishment of His day and they were always parsing everything He spoke and did. Even His own disciples sometimes didn’t understand Him and tried to prevent Him from doing the Father’s will. Such was the case when Peter told Him that He wasn’t going to let Him die at Jerusalem because he would defend Him against all such threats. Of course, Jesus rebuked Peter for speaking when he should have been listening.

Just consider the opposition He felt as He was arrested and taken before the High Priest, unjustly tried and crucified on a cruel Roman cross. Think about the mocking and jeering He endured, as well as the voice of the crowds as they cried out “we have no king but Caesar.” If anybody knew the opposition of sinners...it was Jesus! But...HE DIDN’T QUIT!

A pastor was being harassed and sharply criticized by his congregation to the point he didn’t think he could take it anymore. He went to a senior minister and told him of his troubles and of his desire to resign the church. To his surprise, his colleague began asking him questions, “Do your people ever spit in your face?” “No, of course not,” responded the distraught minister. “Do they ever hit you in the face?” “No,” came the response. “Have they tried to dress you up then mock, and torment you?” “No,” was his reply. “Have they stripped and scourged you, crowned you with thorns…” The young minister interrupted his older colleague and said, “No, and God helping me, until they do, I’ll hold on.”

Difficult Tasks

Sometimes we grow weary when we are given tasks that are hard or seemingly impossible to accomplish. Such was the case with the young preacher, Timothy. Paul had left him in Ephesus to lead the church and get it moving in the right direction. This wasn’t going to be a simple task and he needed the encouragement of his older, wiser mentor to help him stay the course, no matter how difficult the obstacles.

There was a lot of opposition to the Gospel in the city (1 Corinthians 16:9; Acts 19: 23-41), Timothy was prone to being somewhat timid and/or introverted (2 Timothy 1:7; 2:1-3), he was younger than many of the people he was called to lead (1 Timothy 4:12), and false doctrine was rampant, making it all the more difficult to set things in order in the church. Maybe the best advice when you find yourself in similar circumstances is to work slowly and methodically to accomplish your goals.

One morning a man found the snow all piled up in front of his door. He began to shovel it away, but there seemed to be such a mountain of it that after a while he threw down the shovel in despair saying, “I can never clear all of that snow.” In just a few minutes he picked up his shovel again, marked off a square, and began to see how long it would take for him to move it aside; then he marked off another and another until all of the snow was removed.

That is how you deal with difficult assignments. It might take awhile before you see the results, but you keep on plugging along with a relentless persistence.

Thankless Sacrifices

Others are made “weary” by their many thankless sacrifices that seemingly nobody notices. It’s important for us to express our appreciation to those that serve so diligently in the work they do. We all have to be careful not to take for granted the people that serve behind the scenes and have very little recognition. When you feel unappreciated, you can begin to grow “weary” in your work and begin to question whether it’s worth the sacrifice.

To those of you that feel this way today, let me remind you that Jesus sees what you are doing and has promised to reward you for your faithfulness. One day you’ll stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and you’ll hear Him say, “well done, good and faithful servant.” It’s the rewards you receive in Heaven that are the most important ones, not the ones you receive here.

This fundamental consideration is what is behind Paul’s encouragement to the Galatians in this specific passage (6:9).

Fruitless Endeavors

Finally, we can find ourselves growing “weary” when we labor and don’t see the results we expect. We’ve become so accustomed to everything being delivered to us quickly and on our timetable that we forget that faithfulness is our responsibility and fruitfulness is God’s responsibility. Sometimes people will even manipulate the circumstances in order to manufacture the results they desire, but that isn’t the way God does His work.

Think about the prophet Jeremiah that labored in the southern kingdom of Judah for forty years. He was often in prison (Jeremiah 32:2; 37:15) and even placed in a well/pit, on one occasion (Jeremiah 38:5-6). He was known as the weeping prophet because the people to whom he preached would not heed his warnings. They ignored his message, which ultimately led to their being taken into captivity by the Babylonian empire. We read about Jeremiah being depressed and discouraged during his ministry (Jeremiah 20:7-18) and at times he just wanted to quit (Jeremiah 20:9).

The fact is, none of us are exempt from these types of feelings. However, we have to remember that even when we feel like quitting, it’s always too early to do so. Take heart from the words of this old poem:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit!

Life is strange with its twists and turns,

As everyone of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow,

You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,

It seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the Victor’s cup.

And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you can never tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit!

(Walter B. Knight, Knight’s Master Book of New Illustrations, pp. 472-473)

I read a story some time ago about a commuter flight from Portland, Maine, to Boston that was being piloted by a man named Henry Dempsey. During the flight Dempsey heard a noise in the back of the plane so he turned the controls over to the co-pilot and went to investigate the problem.

As he reached the tail section, the plane hit an air pocket, and tossed him against the rear door. He quickly discovered that the noise he had heard was from the improperly latched rear door, as it flew open sucking him out of the plane. The co-pilot, seeing the red light, which indicated an open door, quickly radioed the nearest airport, requesting permission to make an emergency landing. He reported to the tower that the pilot had fallen out of the plane and requested a helicopter search of the area for him.

After the plane had landed, the emergency crews discovered that Henry Dempsy had caught hold of the outdoor ladder of the aircraft. Somehow he had held on for ten minutes as the plane flew at 200 mph at an altitude of 4,000 feet and was able to keep his head from hitting the runway when the plane landed. They said it took them several minutes to pry his fingers from the rung of the ladder to which he had been holding. (Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, & Quotes, p. 614)

That is the kind of relentless, tenacious, perseverance God is looking for from His people.

Sometimes the most important thing we can do in a given situation when we feel like quitting is to hold on till better times come. God sees that kind of faithfulness and He will reward it...if not here, when we stand before Him one day.

The power of the Gospel that saved us is also powerful to enable us to do whatever He has called us to do...no matter how difficult the task may be. When you feel like you can’t go another day, then go to the cross and ask the One that endured the most heinous suffering possible for the strength to not quit...until He tells you your work is finished. The Gospel of Christ doesn’t just make Christians out of us, it makes conquerors out of us. With the power of God and the confidence of His eventual reward, we can finish whatever He told us to start.

The apostle Paul came to the end of his ministry, after all the hardships he had endured (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:22-29), and facing imminent martyrdom, could say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Jesus finished (Hebrews 12:2)! Paul finished (2 Timothy 4:7-8)! You can finish, too! Just don’t quit! Never, ever give up!