Eighteen years ago, a pastor friend, Herb Flavell, gave me a “pro tip” for ministry. He as a dear brother to me…being one of the first pastors to entrust his pulpit to me and the first to allow me to baptize in his baptistry. Herb told me to write down the names in my Bible of each person God allowed me to win to Christ. “Whether through personal evangelism or through my preaching,” he said, “write down everyone. When the devil starts giving you a fit one day…telling you that God can’t use you, just read the names back to him and watch him run.”
I did that for years. Then it was videos of baptism testimonies. Whatever the form…everyone needs to remember why they get out of bed in the morning and “do the work.” Now I know that man doesn’t save anyone…but God chooses through the preaching of the gospel to save those who believe (1 Cor 1:21, 15:1-2).
Resistance and spiritual warfare are non-negotiable. Victory over them is. If you don’t know your WHY, you’ll likely give up on the WHAT of your life and resign to some mere existence while you wait to die.
Victor Frankl, author of the renowned book, Man’s Search for Meaning, was a Jewish Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry. Frankl was imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps during WW II. He made the observation during the terrible atrocities of the camps…that man can endure nearly any “how” of life, as long as he has a “why.”
Perhaps we would do well to stop talking about WHAT we are doing, or HOW we are doing it and focus on explaining WHY we do what we do.
What is your WHY? Why do you work? Why do you go to church? Why do you serve, or give, or go?
Through the years, Pastor Herb’s “pro tip” has been used by the Lord to carry me through some dark periods. Why? Because the WHY is worth holding onto…
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