Our suffering produces eternal results. God is refining us in the furnace of suffering, and in the end, we are more fruitful, stronger, and more greatly prepared to be used by God.
But what do we do in the meantime, while we are still in the heat of the furnace?
In August of 1995, I came before the Lord in brokenness and desperation. I cried out to God night after night, literally laying on the floor weeping. We had begun the work in the South Bronx only eight months before. I felt that we were getting absolutely nowhere. No signs of the smallest of breakthroughs. Great opposition had come against us from sources we did not anticipate. “Friends” betrayed us. Churches in the community accused us of being false prophets because, different from their legalistic standards, we allowed people to come into God’s presence however they looked, however they were dressed, whatever they smelled like. And my five-year-old daughter had been sick since we arrived in NYC almost a year before.
“I’ve missed Your calling, Lord! It was me who wanted to come here! This was not Your will; it was mine! Forgive me, Lord, and release me from this place!” were the cries of my heart.
After many nights of staining the carpet with my tears, God spoke so clearly it was almost audible:
“Be faithful, be obedient; Persevere.”
There was no promise of immediate relief nor a prophetic word that in a certain amount of time, things would improve. No, there were only five words: Be faithful, be obedient; Persevere. Yet, in these five simple words lay the profound truth of what it takes to win the favor of God.
It is not when we are obedient because we know when relief will come. It is not when we persevere because we know that the answer truly is around the corner. It is not when faithfulness is based on a revealed certainty that, “In three weeks, you will have your answer!”
No, it is when we have no idea, no clue when there will be breakthrough, no indication that even in the far off future this thing will change, but we choose in spite of those things to be faithful, to be obedient, and to persevere nonetheless because our faithfulness and obedience are not tied to an impending change or victory but to a heart that wants to please the One who called, the only One who deserves our worship and faithfulness, and the One who will never leave us or forsake us, even when we feel very, very alone.
Right now in whatever situation you find yourself: Be faithful, be obedient; Persevere. And as a result, may His fragrance go forth, His name be known, His heart content, and His glory revealed in and through your life.