Fight the Good Fight

Sometimes I lament, complaining about not being listened to, or how there is so much opposition and so little apparent fruit. I'm quickly rebuked being reminded that this is the fight I have been appointed for. In this battle there are lessons of humility, dependence upon God, endurance in preaching the Word, and perseverance in prayer. We have been set in this place to do the work of the Lord with faithfulness not aiming to conjure up results. The world presses upon those in the ministry to feel the need for success as defined by numbers financially or how many people's ears are tickled. Success is fidelity to the Word of God, preaching Jesus Christ crucified, planting, watering, and doing all of that with great prayer, faithfulness, and endurance. 

Heresy stems from the felt need to produce the results that only God can produce. This is not an excuse to be lazy, unevangelistic, or complacent that the lost aren't being reached. It is a call to doggedly, with great struggle, fight the good fight! Sow the seed of the Word of God wherever you are, preach the Word in season and out of season. If anything this is a reminder to myself to remain faithful and avoid the tyranny of novelty, grabbing any program or method coming down the pike trying to conjure up the produce of the Spirit.