A few years after I began to evangelize, I preached a revival meeting in a church and a number of souls were saved and delivered. Several years later, I preached a Sunday night meeting in the same church. I was remembering today what the pastor had said to me after that Sunday night. He said, “Well, I see that you still have the fire.” He said it like he was surprised. That was over twenty-five years ago and that pastor is now retired. However, I wonder what he would say about my ministry today.
I know a good number of Christians, and some preachers, who seem to have lost their fire. I’ve lived long enough to have actually watched some of them settle back into a somewhat complacent, apathetic, and mostly unproductive life. The name they put on this change is maturity. They explain that when a Christian becomes mature, it is impossible to keep up the passion and desire for spirituality. To some extent I can see their point if passion and desire is mostly physical expression. As we get older the body slows down and our metabolism does not stimulate us as vigorously. So if someone is going to judge my passion and desire for God by my activity, I might come up short. However, passion and desire are deep burning fires. If our love for God is on fire, we will find a way to express ourselves powerfully.
I made a decision long ago that I would never settle for “good enough to get by”. My desire was and is to be the best I can be for God. There are no conditions on that purpose. Whether I’m in a large church building or a small house church, whether I have plenty or am barely getting by, whether I feel like a young man or feel the effects of age and hard work, I just want to do my best for God. I don’t state this to exalt myself, but because I am deeply concerned by the large number of unproductive Christians that were once actively pursuing God’s will. I’ve never accomplished anything that people would call “great”. I don’t have to either. All anyone must do to hear on that special day, “Well done, good and faithful servant”, is to do God’s will.
To be completely honest, it has not been easy to keep that fire burning. The temptation to quit and do something easier has been at times intense. In that short sentence is hidden a large book of great battles, heartaches, brokenness, suffering, needs, wants, failings, rejection, isolation, fears, doubts, and some successes, to name a few experiences. Sometimes I had nothing but hope to get me through. My faith was battered severely. I fought battles that I did not know that I would win. I cannot count the number of times that I felt like a failure and a reject. When I reached the point that I had decided that I wasn’t worthy to be used by God, for some reason the sun would come shining through, the dark clouds would depart, and the answer would come. I remember vividly one evening setting the table with plates, utensils, and glasses of water. My wife and I joined hands with our two young daughters and prayed. We had no food. There was a knock on the door. I opened it to find a man had come from another city with several bags of groceries and some money. He said that God had sent him. Indeed He had!
I was thinking about heaven one day and the possibility that I would get to hear the testimonies of persecuted Christians. I promised myself that in that particular session, I would keep my mouth shut. What am I going to say? “But folks, I had to endure persecution by a demonic deacon board.” They might look at me and ask, “What’s that? Was it big and hairy with long teeth?” Many of my battles have been the result of people who either didn’t like what I preached or what I stood for. Some of them just didn’t like me personally. I learned gradually that it is very risky to trust people. Some of the ones who declared that they loved me and would stand with me no matter what were the first ones to abandon me when the going got tough. I have discovered by reading the biographies of significant Christians and also from experiences that individuals who surrender fully to God are lonely people. I thank God from my equally surrendered wife who is my best friend and partner. I do not call her a helpmate because I don’t always know if she is helping me or I am helping her.
I share all of that so that someone cannot say, “But you don’t know what I’ve been through.” They are technically right, but it doesn’t matter. The truth is found in Romans 8:18: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
I believe every Christian who has been involved in obeying God’s has endured suffering. Satan hates people who shine. In fact, if you shine you will eventually realize that you are a target. One day you are relaxed and everything is fine. The next day all hell breaks loose and you wonder if you will survive to see another day. The times when you are so backed into a corner by the multitude and sheer intensity of the trials, that’s when you are a prisoner of hope. Numerous times I have looked back and wondered how I made it through some of those circumstances. The overwhelming majority of the time the answer came at the last possible moment. I’ll be honest and say that I don’t like those experiences at all. However, there is not enough money in the world to make me give up what I learned during those times.
So I just want to call out the ones who used to be passionate for God, but are now just vegetating and trying to avoid being used by Him now. Most of these individuals are wondering where God is, why He isn’t blessing them, and why He has abandoned them. I am reminded of a story I heard once. An old man and his wife were driving down the highway when they came upon a young couple driving a bit under the speed limit. The young couple was sitting so close that their heads were as one. The wife said to her husband, “I can remember when we were that close.” Her husband replied, “I haven’t moved.”
God hasn’t moved. Get back into the battle. You are never too old to do something significant for God. Age for the most part is a state of mind. There is no power difference between a young and an elderly person’s prayer. You may not be able to do what you once did, but you can be just as productive in something different. I believe that we are in the last days of this jaded planet. It is the greatest time to shine. The greater the darkness, the brighter the light. Make up your mind to get back in the will of God and everything else will follow. “Be bold, the strong, for the Lord your God is with you.”
(1 Pet 1:6-9 NKJV) In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, {7} that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, {8} whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, {9} receiving the end of your faith; the salvation of your souls.
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