Plodding Along

1. "Plod"

Etymologists tell us that the word, "plod" comes from a Middle English word for "puddle." The Danish have a similar word which means, "mud." A plodder is someone who is willing to get his feet wet and muddy to accomplish a task. In so doing, he will keep going.

2. History shows it is the "plodder" who makes it in the long run.

3. Charles Spurgeon once said that it was by perseverance that the snail made it to the ark.

4. In our age, the microwave is preferred to the crockpot; fast food to home cooking; the flash in the pan person to the one in for the long haul

5. Paul said it this way: And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6.9

I. The Plodder Needs a Divine Route (Direction)

[We need to know where we are going -- not like the airline pilot who told his passengers, "I have good news and bad news. We are lost, but we are making excellent time."

A. Our Direction Comes from God

1. The Disciples of Yeshua were referred to as "of the WAY"

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Acts 9.2

2. Yeshua said that he was the WAY (John 14.6)

B. Our Direction includes Setting Goals

1. Measurable

2. Long-range goals broken down into bite-sized small ones

3. Chinese Proverb: "The man who removed a mountain began by carrying away small stones."

4. List personal goals that you believe God wants you to do; prioritize them; use the list as a prayer guide

5. Roman Proverb: "When the pilot does not know what port he is heading for, no wind is the right wind."

II. The Plodder Needs Divine Restraint

A. We Each need Discipline to Accomplish Goals

1. William Carey, the Father of Modern Missions, had only an elementary school education. By the time he was in his teens, he could read the bible in 6 languages. He later became the professor of Oriental Languages at Ft. William College in Calcutta. He produced the Scriptures in over 40 languages and dialects for more than 300 million people. As a cobbler, while he mended shoes, he taught himself Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, and Dutch.

2. "Persistence without ability is futility." However, if God calls us to a task, he will equip us for the work.

B. We Each Resist the Detours

13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Philippians 3.13-16

III. The Plodder Needs Divine Reassurance

A. God Gives Us What We Need for Each Day

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40.31

1. God Gives us what we NEED

a. Sometimes we soar with eagles (unless we work with turkeys)

b. Sometimes we run

c. Sometimes we walk

2. But we never get tired -- with God as our strength

B. Encouragement comes from Doing the Father's Will

1. Food for Yeshua Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. John 4.34

2. Assurance for us -- Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1.27 (could be "KEEPING or TO KEEP unstained from the world")

a. Worship and service are the same words in Hebrew

b. Romans 12.1-2 -- spiritual worship = service

c. Serving honors God and benefits US

3. When doing the will of God becomes a delight, plodding becomes a pleasure -- the daily walk becomes a new joy and excitement

1. Solomon saw the realities of life

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9.11

2. Stirs us to stay focused on what God calls us to be

3. "Consider the postage stamp. Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there." Josh Billings