I believe God has called me to do certain things, yet I thought my journey would be different, much easier, and loads of fun. I haven’t understood why some things have happened and why other things don’t happen. At times, I have not been full of faith and instead have wailed, whimpered, begged, pleaded, complained, whined, and basically acted like an out-of-control toddler. How grateful I am for our good, gracious, and very long-suffering, very merciful Heavenly Father.

We each have a calling on our lives. However, doing what God has called us to do is not an easy road, and the devil bombards us with doubts and tries to make us quit and walk away when life isn’t what we hoped or expected.

Rod Mattoon wrote “If you believe you are wasting your time in living for God, you are heading for defeat. You are going to quit. On the other hand, if you will understand the truth that what you do for Christ has eternal value, and that He is using you, even though you may not see it, it will help you to be faithful. Our responsibility is to be faithful and obedient to Christ and leave the rest to Him. He will reward us for our steadfastness.”^[i]

Paul reminded us, “Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose]” (1 Corinthians 15:58, AMP).

Missionary Jack Scholes told the story of a carpenter building a cupboard. The man cut and prepared each board and drilled holes for the nails, then hammered each one in place and covered them with wood filling. When the project was complete, no nail could be seen. He asked, are we “willing to be nails in the hands of the Master Carpenter? Would we grumble at the painful blows of the hammer, or would we remember that the hammer was held by the nail-pierced hands? … Remember, the Lord has only one purpose ultimately for each one of us, to make us more like Jesus. He is interested in your relationship with Himself. Let Him take you and mold you as He will; all the rest will take its rightful place.”[ii]

The journey is only part of the process. May we allow God to mold and conform us to the image of His precious Son, Jesus Christ.

J.R. Miller wrote, “It requires much more courage to stand and wait and still not lose heart or lose hope, to submit to the will of God, to give up opportunities for work and leave honors to others, and to be quiet, confident, and rejoicing while the busy multitude goes happily along their way. The greatest life is: ‘after you have done everything, to stand (Eph. 6:13)’.”

Therefore, don’t give up; be faithful, obedient, and steadfast, keep your focus on God, and continue working for the Lord. Do your best. Don’t lose heart or hope; be confident and stand firm, remembering that all you do for the Lord has a purposeful, eternal value.

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[i] Rod Mattoon, Treasures from the Scriptures 

[ii] Roseveare, Helen Dr., Give Me this Mountain, Christian Focus Publications, Scotland, UK,