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| God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. |
| —Hebrews 6:10 |
“Why should I continue to go out of my way doing kind deeds for others? Nobody recognizes the sacrifice involved on my part. They just take what I do for granted!” declares one very frustrated child of God.
Ever feel that way? Or, how about this?
“Week after week, I go to choir practice and show up on Sunday morning to sing. Why I haven’t missed a rehearsal or service in over five years. That’s like 520 times I’ve arrived on time and ready to serve. I doubt if anyone would even miss me if I was gone.”
Or, perhaps you feel like this person:
“I guess I’m foolish to continue giving money the way I do. Because the business has done well, others ask for help as though I owed it to them. Why if I added up all I’ve given as a Christian during my lifetime, the total would stagger people. No, on second thought, it probably wouldn’t mean a thing to anybody, except me!”
Do any of these heart-cries resonate with you? Or perhaps, you have a situation where you’ve given service that is quite different than the ones used as examples in this blog post, but that situation evokes a heartbreaking sob within the depths of your being.
“Some of the best years of my life I gave to those people. But now that I’m older, they act as though I never existed. When I was younger, I think we respected age more than they do now-a-days. I guess I feel as though the contribution I made in my time should entitle me to at least a sense of dignity during these, my closing years.”
Or, if you’ve ever volunteered in Christian Education, maybe you will identify with this person’s lament:
“Because I do a good job teaching Sunday School, people just assume it comes easy for me. I wonder if they realize how many Saturday nights I’ve stayed up making sure my words would be clearly understood the next morning, or the numerous times my family has not gone somewhere on Saturdays to protect my lesson preparation, or the hours I’ve invested in prayer? But lately, I have a feeling the class is getting a lot more from me than I am from them, and their response makes me wonder if it’s really worth all the effort I put into it!”
Do you identify at all with the kind of things these dear folks are saying? Having invested a great deal in ministry of one kind or another, you’re now wondering if anyone even notices what you do.
Many years ago, in October of 1978, when I lived in a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, I attended a banquet sponsored by the local Christian radio station, where I worked as the Saturday morning on-air host. The speaker for that event was Rev. Dr. David R. Mains, the host of a daily radio broadcast, The Chapel of the Air. That evening, Dr. Mains preached a sermon based on the passage of Scripture you will find at the beginning of this blog post. He gave example after example from Scripture of occasions when God reminded His people that He remained fully aware of all they did on His behalf.
I came away from that night greatly encouraged. I also came away from that night with the beginnings of a new friendship that, I am grateful to say, has continued over these intervening 42 years. In fact, for the three years prior to that night, I had faithfully prayed, asking God to please bring someone into my life who could serve as a trusted spiritual mentor for me. I had met many prominent Christian leaders through my work with various Evangelical organizations and especially through my work in radio broadcasting. But, I often found these individuals to have so many obvious flaws that I did not feel they could help me in my own spiritual formation.
That night in October of 1978, God answered my prayers. The more that I got to know Dr. Mains, the more I realized that he was a genuine individual who was totally sold out to God. Yes, like all humans, he was not perfect. But, his flaws were quite minor compared to my own, and compared with those of most religious leaders I had met. The genuineness of Dr. Mains’ commitment to Christ and His Kingdom was inspiring. Plus, Dr. Mains seemed willing to invest in me in a way that others had not been willing.
Over the intervening 42 years, I have learned much from Dr. Mains. Eleven years ago, in my retirement from a full-time career, Dr. Mains welcomed me to become a part of his ministry, where I continue to serve today. The genuiness that I detected 42 years ago has only strengthened, as I have observed Dr. Mains face many life challenges over the years. But, the first lesson I learned from him on that chilly October night in 1978 has remained as one of the most profound and life-enhancing truths.
During his sermon that long-ago night, Dr. Mains told this short story as an illustration for his sermon. This illustration certainly mirrored my own experience:
Twice now, I’ve read through J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive three-volume set, The Lord of the Rings. And, each time I’ve made it all right through the thousand-plus pages of excitement and adventure as little Frodo Baggins and his company perform superhuman exploits while saving Middle Earth from the dark cloud of the evil Lord Sauron. But, when Frodo returns home to the simple shire from which he came, and none of his fellow Hobbits appreciate, or are even aware of, his heroics, I have to confess, both times, tears came to my eyes as I tried to read.And, in those words, I’m afraid the author describes the experience of too many faithful, but unsung, Christian warriors.“Frodo dropped quietly out of all the doings of the Shire, and Sam Gamgee was pained to notice how little honor his master had in his own country. Few people knew or wanted to know about his deeds and adventures,” writes Tolkien.
So, dear friend, if you, like me, can identify with those who feel that no one even notices what they do for Christ and His Kingdom, I encourage you to join me in memorizing Hebrews 6:10:
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
By memorizing this verse, we will plant a seed in our minds and hearts that God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can bring to our awareness whenever we’re tempted to feel unappreciated.
If I re-state in my own words what the writer of Hebrews has penned, it comes out like this: “Be reminded that God is aware of all your efforts on His behalf.” I hope those words will encourage you today, as much as they have encouraged me over the last 42 years.
