Did you ever hear what you needed to hear at just the right time?
My greatest hope for this blog is that it encourages believers to step into the role God’s made for them, regardless of how impossible it seems. I’d love if the entries bolster courage and resolve in its readers, and helps fuel them to swing for the fences and take the next step to do the things only God could empower them to do.
When it comes to this blog, the nature of the medium generally results in a lack of feedback from readers. Through a variety of means, people either drop in on the actual blog itself, view entries somewhere on social media, or receive emails, and after reading an entry they move on with life. Of course I’m curious about what people think of various entries, but I’ve come to accept that I simply won’t find out in most cases. That’s okay in the short- or medium term, but it gets harder to stay motivated in the long term.
Due to a combination of my spiritual gifts, my life experience, and the way my brain’s wired, I tend to keep plugging along on something I believe to be important when I believe many others would have lost interest or given up. In my mind, God led me to begin this project; He pointed to a spot beyond the horizon and said “now, go!” I continue because this is the task I believe I was given “until directed otherwise.”
That doesn’t mean, though, my determination is unflappable. That was seven and a half years ago.
Even though I work to please God and not people, every once in a while I do wonder if these entries are making any kind of difference. I fully accept that I won’t find out the true impact of my efforts until Heaven, but sometimes it feels like I’m just sending post after post into the electronic void. In fact sometimes I go so long without getting any feedback I start bringing it up in my prayers. I don’t mind continuing to do it if it’s what God would have me do, but every now and then I get to the point where I kinda ask “hey God? Could you please either, like, send me some encouragement to keep this going, or let me know I can shut it off?”
Well sometimes, He does send that encouragement, and it’s enough to keep me going.
One time I was wrestling with this problem, and I had been asking the Lord for a little pick-me-up, some kind of sign that I should either continue posting or start wrapping things up. Now it’s important to understand that I’m not the most outgoing guy. I’m usually pretty content hanging back in a crowd and I don’t usually go seeking out others to start a conversation. That weekend in church, though, a longtime supporter found me and we started talking. He let me know that he didn’t read each and every blog post I sent out (and that’s fine), but he still enjoyed the ones he read. We talked for a few minutes about past entries, and then as we closed the conversation, one of the last things he said to me was “keep doing what you’re doing.”
Sometimes God just shows up, man. He doesn’t forget about you. Somebody out there needs to hear this: God has not forgotten you. He sees your struggle, and He knows your heart. He knows you’re trying to do the right thing, and He knows you’re not perfect. I want to encourage you to keep going. Don’t give up. Keep doing what you’re doing.
But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. -2 Chronicles 15:7