Totally Worth It

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2

To be completely honest there are some days when I can’t help but wonder if it is all worth it. Really, honestly some days are tough, and when the fruits of our labors seem scarce it is easy to get caught up in a self-centered pity party. Recently, I received a nudge from the Lord that reminded me; He knows what He is doing, and He doesn’t need my advice. He will do things in His time and in His way, but we can be sure of one thing. He won’t leave undone anything that He wants done, and if we are fortunate enough to be any small part of the process of His work we are blessed and should be grateful.

Okay, so it was more like being hit by a lineman in a football game than just simply being nudged. But I don’t mean that in a bad way. Sometimes this is exactly what we need. We need to be confronted so directly by God’s sovereign power that we are knocked out of our complacency, doubt, or self centered thought, and able get our eyes back on the prize. That is exactly what happened as I watched my friend “Spanky” Hale be baptized this weekend.

I have known Spanky for several years. I was working in an aircraft repair facility, and Spanky took a job as a Sheetmetal Mechanic. As soon as I met him, I liked him. He was real, wasn’t about putting on a show for anyone, had a great work ethic, and the way he said things just made me laugh. He is one of those “country boys” that say normal things in round about ways. To ask if someone understands him, he would say, “Are you picking up what I’m laying down.” You know the kind. But just like everyone of Spanky needed Jesus. So, I prayed for this for him, shared about it with him, and tried to set a good example for him.

It wasn’t just Spanky, but everyone that I ever worked with, for, or that worked for me. I wanted them all to know Jesus as I had come to know Jesus, to trust Him. That was the pattern of my life when I first met Spanky, and it was no different when Spanky left that job and I assumed I would never see him again. He left having no more relationship with Jesus than when he showed up. So, it was a complete shock, when I received a message from him about a year and a half later letting me know that he had been attending church and even memorizing Bible verses. I knew then that God was up to something, but it really all settled in, when I got the call months later. “I have been saved!”

It was exciting to know, that Spanky had been saved and he wanted me to be there when he was baptized. When he said it, tears filled my eyes, and the excitement that was in my heart was just about to blow a hole in my chest. To think about being at the baptism of this guy that I had been praying for was an honor I just couldn’t pass up. So, a date was set. I went, I watched, I praised God for the new man He had made. It was great, but it was after lunch that God woke me up and reminded me, getting tired is not an option, giving up is not an option, we have to run this race as if lives depend on it, because they do.

Spanky told me that day that if it hadn’t been for me, he probably never would have stepped foot in that church. But he had listened to the things I said, saw the way I acted and treated others and he wanted to be like me. He thought the difference was church, so he started going, and what he found out was that the difference was Jesus.

I thank God for saving Spanky. I thank God for bringing him to a church and Pastor that would point him to Jesus. I thank God for allowing me to be a part of that process in his life. I thank God for reminding me that He can handle it, that He will accomplish all that He has set out to accomplish, and that there is great reason to keep up the good fight, because efforts spent for God’s glory will not be spent in vain.