What Must I Do? You Must Be Faithful Series

WHAT MUST I DO? YOU MUST BE FAITHFUL

1 CORINTHIANS 4:2

Big Idea: When we do great things in the name of God, we can be sure that while His ways will always be the best, they definitely won’t be the easiest.

1 CORINTHIANS 4:1-5

1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to lightwhat is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

When I was a young believer I remember listening to a story-teller talk about his time in Vietnam. He was talking about the patrols that he and his squad were responsible for. They were, as you can imagine, quite dangerous and they always felt vulnerable … at death’s door. His squad was responsible to patrol some of the rice patties in the area. There was a lot of brush in the waters now, they had grown up during the war, and seeing what lied in front of you was very very hard. To top it off, it was very humid, very hot, and the mosquitos were as big as birds.

One day, in particular, was extremely laborious. While on patrol he and the squad he was attached to came upon a good sized, appealing knoll emerging from the rice patties. It was particularly inviting. The elevation gave them some breeze; the ground was relatively dry and plush with vegetation. The patrol immediately made their way to the knoll and began to rest. They laid down their weapons, broke out the cigarettes, and began to chat a bit.

The storyteller talked about how he withdrew into his own little world while on that knoll. He hated Vietnam and he would escape like this often. As he sat there, and then laid there, on the knoll he remembers thinking, “This is a nice place. I could just stay here forever. This is a nice place to relax and escape. It’s a nice place … FOR AN AMBUSH!!!!” Immediately he jumped to his feet, took his weapon and began yelling at the men to make ready. They got off the knoll as quick as possible and went back to alertness and patrol.

Comfort was an enemy to those in the Vietnam War. Setting on an elevated knoll relaxing made you easy picking for an enemy sniper.

Comfort is an enemy for the saint too. We are in a fight for the souls of men. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

Any tendency to ease up on the mission or urgency is dangerous. When we become comfortable – we become vulnerable. And as you have heard me say before, God did not call us to be comfortable – he called us to be faithful.

Shakirah Hill is a New York native, a writer, and a speaker. She loves Jesus showing the world God’s heart.

(You can check out her website www.shakirahadianna.com.)

I recently read an article she wrote for Relevant Magazine titled “Your Calling Isn’t Meant to be Easy.”

In it she talks about her calling from God. She feels called to serve the world and to write.

She says (in part):

What I didn’t know was God’s calling on my life would send me on a challenging yet invigorating journey. From the moment I said yes to God, life suddenly got hard. This was shocking. If I was following God’s plan and the leading of the Holy Spirit shouldn’t pursuing my God-inspired dreams have been easy?

Not exactly.

Our calling was never meant to be easy. It sounds glamorous when we talk about our dreams and all the awe-inspiring things we believe God is birthing out of us: … Yet, when we find ourselves in the middle of the desert or valley in pursuit of that calling, we can begin to question whether our dreams were actually God-inspired. Even worse, we doubt our ability to keep moving forward to see the calling through to completion.

Challenging callings have biblical precedent. They are to be met with obedience.

• Abraham was instructed to go to a land he wouldn’t know until God told him all-the-while waiting more than 20 years for God to fulfill the promise of a son.