SPEAKER_01 0:33

Turn to the book of Galatians, chapter six. Galatians, chapter six. Now I've I've read this verse over and over from several translations. And then I came back to the King James. So that's what I want to read from now. Are you ready? Galatians chapter six and verse nine says, And let us not be wary in well doing. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not. We can sit right there. We can just go home right now. Just somebody, don't faint. Don't give up. Some will let you take your seats, but just before you do, somebody may have been holding on, holding back a little bit on that praise. And even if you don't think you have anything in the past for which to think that praise the faith, I want you to give the law the praise in the past. Come on, open your mouth. In his presence. I want you to pray with strength. There are some words that are easy to deliver. There are others that are challenging. Under the theme of blood. So let me give you the title of my message up front. Shine anyway. Turn to your neighbor and tell them, shine anyway. I haven't been up there, but I'm told that inscribed on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta are the following words. People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous of you, but be happy anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you've got anyway. Tell somebody, shine anyway. Paul writes to the churches in the region of Galatia that were struggling with false teachings and spiritual confusion. Just like in Colossae, some believers were tempted to abandon grace and return to legalism while others were growing tired, somebody's here tired, in their Christian walk. Paul reminds them, and I want to remind us that the Christian life is not only about right belief, it's also about faithful living empowered by the Holy Spirit. So now in Galatians chapter six, Paul uses what we might refer to as agricultural language, sowing and reaping. Believers need to understand that spiritual fruit takes time. Tell somebody, spiritual fruit takes time. The harvest is promise. But it comes in God's timing, not us. I want you to hear that. The harvest is promise. But it comes in God's timing and not us. Follow me now. One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life, as I survey and as I observe, is not open rebellion, but quiet weariness. Somebody knows what I'm talking about. I'm gonna come up your street in just a moment. Some of us have learned how to camouflage, have learned how to hide, have learned how to deceive others when in fact we are deceiving ourselves, and a whole lot of us are suffering in silence. A lot of people this morning, if you are honest with me, are tired, are weary, but you're trying to keep it under wrap. Many believers do not stop serving God because they reject Him, they stop because they get tired. Tired. And Galatians chapter 6, verses 9 and 10 speak directly to that reality. Paul urges us not to grow wary in doing good. Because he says, in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not faint. Set this up for you. This passage teaches us that due season, somebody said due season, is real. Due season is divine, and due season is dependable. Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes you can get pretty confused as to what season you are according to the calendar. The way things are going, the way things have changed up, you're not sure you are in winter, summer, spring, or fall. Everything is changing. But one thing I want you to know, you can bank on due season. Due season is dependable. Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about because you shout right there, but hang in there. Today I want us to learn how to wait for due season, how to work through due season, and how to walk faithfully until it arrives. That is my assignment today. So I stop by on my way to heaven, on my way to glory, to let somebody know that your due season will come. As a matter of fact, I stop by to talk to the real church that has the real people who are facing real struggles. I know some of you are so cute, and some of you are so well behaved, and some of you are so well-ended that you don't have any struggles. But the last time I checked, everybody has some struggle. Everybody's dealing with something. So let me do a quick survey. I want to make sure that I'm in the right place with the right word for the right people at the right time. Are you ready for this? Is there anybody here who's tired of people taking you for granted? Oh, okay, that's a little weak. Maybe that's not everybody. That's not everybody. Okay. Is anybody here tired of being the adult in all of your relationships? You gotta be the one always saying, I'm sorry, even when you've done nothing wrong. Come on, okay. I think I'm getting close to being in the right church. Is there anybody here who's tired of being misunderstood and underappreciated? Okay, that's that's a few more people. That's a few more. I might be in the right church. I got my foot on the step. I'm not sure I can come in yet. Is there anybody here that is sick and tired of being sick and tired? Tired of people talking about you like you're not even there, tired of people lying on you, tired of carrying dead weight. Is there anybody tired? All right, I think we got the right place with the right people. So I want to share just three things with us today. First of all, when you look at the text, there's a very clear, clear message. And the first thing that I want to share with us today, write this down somewhere, is that weariness or tiredness is real. Tell somebody it's real. It's real, it's real, it's real. Now I want you to notice that Paul does not deny that weariness exists. That's the problem with a whole lot of believers. I I was sharing with the seniors not too long ago that often you hear people say, Don't say I'm sick. If you're sick, you're sick. And I'm not going to any doctor. I'm gonna trust in God. We need to understand. Can I just drop this in? It's not gonna cost you anything. I need you to understand that all healing is of God, no matter what the instrument, no matter what he uses, and God has placed people among us to help us. As a matter of fact, do you know your brother and your sister can help you to get well? He says, confess your faults one for another and pray one to another that ye may be healed. And here's the good thing: there's no conflict between the doctor or science and the Bible. If you truly believe that God has healed you, there's nothing wrong to go with the doctor and let him confirm what God has already done. So a whole lot of people don't want to understand. Now I didn't know the word. The word says, speak those things that be not as though they were, but it's time that we understand the difference between lying and prophesying. Paul does not deny that weariness exists. He says, Let us not become wary in good doing. This implies that even good, godly work can be exhausting. Let me check the house. Serving can be exhausting, forgiving can be exhausting. Giving and loving can drain us. And I I want us to be careful. You know, every time I fly, I listen and I try to pay attention to the details of the safety instructions. And one of the things when they come to the mass, they always say, before you try to help anybody, put on your mask first. And one of the problems with many of us today, we are trying to save the world, losing our families and losing ourselves. Hang in there, hang in there. This this whole matter of serving and and and giving and loving and forgiving is very wearisome, especially when results are delayed. Especially when you don't see nothing. Can I just say that? Don't teach you, just excuse me for a minute. Especially when you see nothing happening. But can I tell you that not because you don't see anything happening, that doesn't mean that God isn't doing something. Watch this. Paul actually draws a clear line. He's suggesting to the believers that weariness is human, but quitting is a choice. I need to say that one more time. Weariness is human and it's natural and it's real. But quitting is a choice. Just ask Jesus. The Bible tells us in John 4 and 6, and Jesus, tired. This is Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noonday. Can you understand this? He has walked for miles in the heat of the day. This is the humanity of Christ. And he's tired. Just take a clue from Jesus. Hebrews 12 and 3 says, For consider him Jesus that endure such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your mind. Watch how he dealt with it. Watch how he conducted himself under pressure, least you become wearied and faint in your mind. And if you don't, if you don't understand that he got tired, and you don't understand all of that, why you should learn, then at least heed his invitation. In Matthew 11, 28 through 30, he says, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Now, I want you to notice that there is a significant difference between being tired in the work and being tired off the work. Let me check the house. Has anybody here ever been tired while you're working? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But but you love what you do, but you get tired because you're human, right? Okay, but have you ever seen anybody? Have you ever come to a point, and if you ever get to this point, it's time to leave now. You gotta know when to check out. Have you ever been to the point where you're not just tired in the work, but you're tired of the work? If you ever get tired of it, it's time to move on. You gotta know when to fold them and when to hold them. You got to know when it's time to move out of the way. I hear people all the time structure, work again. They've been there for five years, they take another five years, work again. I'm just sick and tired of this place. Sick and tired of this place. At least it keeps the lights on, but I'm sick and tired of this place. Why would you go to some place where you're sick and tired? Of it. He says, Let us not become wary in well-doing. Let me give you a live example. This is back in the old church. One of my favorite people. Now gone on to glory. I remember many times we came to Bible study, prayer meeting. It was back in those days when we had cottage meetings where we met from house to house. Mother B, as we affectionately call her, prayed for her husband's salvation for years. Every time she came to church, she requested prayer for her husband. But it seems the more we pray, the worse he got. Now he was a good man, but when he got oiled up, some of you will wonder what that is. Yeah. And so she would request prayer. Wednesday after Wednesday, Sunday after Sunday, praying for her husband. She never stopped. She never gave up. So this particular Wednesday night, we go up to Mother B's house and it started like a regular meeting. We opened in prayer, we just prayed and we prayed and we sang and we prayed and we sang. And then all of a sudden, something happened. We heard a groaning and a moaning. Scripture says to watch and pray. Amen. So I listened a little closer, and then I looked and I realized it was Mother Bee's husband. Brother James, now gone on to glory. And he says, I want to be saved. Well, you didn't hear what I just said. You didn't hear what I said. You didn't hear what I just said. This is a man for whom she had prayed years upon years upon years, and the more we pray, the worse he got. But tonight, Wednesday night, when the whole service was open, God took over. Be not wary in well-doing, because you will reap in due season. He may not come when you want him, but he is always. And so what we need to do in this time is to acknowledge our wariness honestly before God. But refuse to let it turn into withdrawal and resistance. Don't ever let your weariness cause you to withdraw and resist. Arrogant, and always resisting. You need help. But you're too arrogant, you're too independent, and you're always resisting. Because you think everybody's about to get you. I want to suggest that you rest when needed, but do not resign. God has a way of strengthening those who keep trusting in Him. You know the word. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. God has a way of giving you strength in your weakness. David said, I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Admit that you're tired and that you're wary, but don't resign. Don't withdraw. Don't resist. Don't become arrogant. Weariness is real. But giving up is optional. Make sure. Make sure when you are wary that you are planted, that is where God wants you, and not buried with and burdened by human agendas. You'll miss that. Oh, you miss that. You miss that. You miss that. You miss that. Sometimes we get tired because we're trying to be God. We don't understand. God will do what God has to do, and God told you to do what He told you to do. And when you do what God wants you to do, I told folks all the time that listen, when you try to do it in your strength, you are on your own. But when you do it in God's strength, His supernatural power matches with your human power, and that's an unbeatable source. We got to learn how to trust God and depend upon Him. We have our own human agendas. And God is saying, You got to learn to sit at my feet. How are you going to go do my job? And you haven't asked me what the assignment is. How crazy would you be for you to walk into any store or any business place tonight or tomorrow and say, I'm going to work for you, not talking to anybody, especially not the boss, and you work yourself up to a fringery, and now you come to be paid and ask, Well, who you are? Well, I needed somebody to work, but you didn't do a thing that I needed done. We make that mistake as believers so often working for God but not with God. Listen, we ought to be sensitive to the pull and aware of the push. I want you to understand what God is saying to us that you need to understand that there are always people pressing on you, there are always people demanding of you. You've got to know what is urgent and what is not. It always intrigues me. People will be suffering for years with a particular situation in relationship. Then all of a sudden, they wake up one morning and it becomes urgent, and they call you and they want you to drop everything. My simple question that helps me now that I'm getting a little older and wiser is how long you've been dealing with this? Two years. So what happened? All of a sudden, a two-year problem is now urgent. I must leave my wife, leave my warm bed, and come because you now decide it's urgent. It's been urgent. So I gonna do like Jesus. Lazarus is dead, but I'm gonna stay back two more days. Because what you need right now is not a healing, what you need right now up in here is a resurrection. And if I run and try to heal you, you will not appreciate it. So I gotta wait till you're dead, dead, dead. I know that sounds a little fastidious, but you see how we are, and if you're not careful, you'll be fitting into everybody's agenda because everybody has an agenda. That's why some of you are tired. You don't know when to and how to say no and not feel guilty. Oh Lord. If we have any leaders in the house, can I just drop this in and then we move on? One of the things I learned early in ministry is that I need to get close enough to the people that I lead to pick up their heartbeat, but never so close that I have to compromise my convictions. Don't allow nepotism, cronyism, or any other nism to get in the way of clarity in your leadership. People will always come and say, the pastor said when the pastor said nothing. People always say, The boss said when the boss said nothing. Using your name to get where they want to go. Can we move on? Number two. What's the first one? Okay, just checking. Weariness is real. Number two, there is a due season. Tell somebody there is a due season. Now, due season is an appointed, fixed, proper time determined by God. Your blooming, which is the harvest, is not random or uncertain. Due season is not when we feel ready, but when God knows the conditions are right. Due season defies the calendar and the clock. God says, I will make rivers in the desert. That's not according to the calendar, nor the clock. But you know what? I've also found that the due season actually is spiritual and defies and overrules the natural. All you gotta do is ask Mary, she was too young to have a child. Or you can go to Elizabeth, she was too old. Or you can go to Abraham, he was both too old and dead. That's a problem. That's right in the Bible. It's right there. He was not just old, he was dead. Somebody needs to hear this. I don't know how many times you've heard it before. But not because your harvest is delayed means it's denied. Due season is divine preparation. I want you to imagine Jesus Himself going through 30 years of preparation for only three years of ministry. Yet we want to do three years of preparation for 30 years of ministry. Something is wrong with that picture. Everybody wants to grow up fast. A lot of folks are false ripe. Some of you are too young to understand what that is about. So the question is: what do you do when you know you are anointed and chosen and qualified, but not appointed? What do you do when you get the job that you know you are qualified for? Somebody else gets it. My advice to you, in the words of David, would be serve anyway. Some of you don't understand, but David was anointed 25 years prior to his being appointed as king. Samuel anointed him 25 years, and he's gotta wait 25 years to get the position that he's already been anointed for. Some of you are struggling because that's where you are right now. You got the qualification, you got what it takes, yet you keep seeing people pass you by. You're seeing people keep moving ahead of you, and you are discouraged. I want to suggest to you don't worry about it. Serve anyway. Can you imagine? David had to serve old King Saul, crazy King Saul, jealous King Saul, who did not appreciate that if I have talented people around me, I ought not to be intimidated. I ought to be encouraged. It makes my burden lighter. Because water will not rise higher than its own level, and if the leader isn't moving, then I can't move unless I move out. Uh-oh, uh oh. All right. So King Saul missed an opportunity because of his insecurities as a leader. I've always said to folks that inspiration in love and by example is the purest form of leadership. And I discovered in my lifetime that those who can't inspire always resort to intimidation, seduction, and domination. People try to control you. And when they can't control you, they seek to destroy you. But no weapon. Come on, somebody. So for the proper time, we'll you will reap a harvest. I remember in our primary school days, I was given an assignment, like the other children, to give us a plant, actually a seed. They told us when we get home, put it in a cup with some water. Bury it in the cup with the water and some dirt. And by the morning, everything's gonna be alright. In other words, it's going to sprout. Well, in a child-like manner, I was so excited, but most so anxious, I couldn't wait. Minister Donner, every minute I check in that thing, rooting it out of the dirt, ain't sprout yet. So I got tired and went to sleep and I woke up the next morning, and guess what? Nothing happened. You know why? Because I kept interfering with the process. Some of you are not where you should be, not because God didn't plant you, and not because God didn't water you, but you keep shifting, you keep moving. Some of us quit too soon. Just when God was about to break through for you, you shifted. Let me just let you know. If you could just see a spot and the rain is falling, and there's a bucket somewhere that's waiting for the water, and then the rain comes, but the bucket was moved because every pan knock you want to be there. Everyone that says I'm a prophet, you run there, and you don't understand that there's only one source who's able to provide many resources. So I'm gonna let you know that God's gonna bless, God's gonna pour. The question is, will you be in place? If you didn't get that, we're about to close. Got one more thing to share you. Some of us in this room and online, God has us in what we call a hole and pattern. Now, if you have ever flown in very bad weather, you would know that there are times when the pilot has to solely depend on master control because he can't see nothing. He's gotta depend on master control. And there are times when there's so much traffic on the airport and in the air that master control can't let you come in now. So, what is happening? You think you're going somewhere, but you're actually going around in circles. I see so many believers going around in circles. But here's the good news: going around in circles is not always a bad thing. Because at the proper time, at the right time, which you can't see, master control finally says it's time to come on in. If you ever go in before it's cleared, you got a problem. That's why some of us are in problem. We didn't wait for the clearance, we just ran ahead. The last thing I want to share with us from this text, and I want you to notice the progression, he says, Don't give up. Tell somebody, don't give up. You don't suddenly get wary. Weary is the extreme when you ignore the signs and the symptoms and fail to reset and strike a healthy balance. It's where you lose heart. That's a spiritual condition. If you're physically tired, you can take a break physically. But what do you do when you're mentally, emotionally, and spiritually dehydrated? What do you do? So some of us find ourselves serving but spent, acting and anxious, willing but wounded. Perseverance guarantees the harvest. Paul adds this simple condition. You are going to reap. There's no question about this. On the condition, one and only condition that you do not faint. I had to learn that the hard way. But I learned it very early. I want to suggest that you stay consistent when results are invisible. Your faithfulness today is preparing for tomorrow's harvest. Every good act you do is a seed. Small acts of kindness, encouraging words, help giving quietly, often return multiplied in unexpected ways. Some of you are being blessed right now, and you don't understand why, because something you did years ago that you didn't even you weren't aware of it. You did it because it was the right thing to do. You were not expecting anything, but God blessed you as a result of the seed you sow. So Galatians chapter 6 reminds us that God's promises are sure, but they are fulfilled in due season. So as we come down, I want to ask you wherever this message finds you. If you are discouraged, I'm going to ask you to stay faithful, stay obedient, stay hopeful. Your due season is closer than you think. Do good anyway, shine anyway. Stand with me. So you are in a holding pattern. You've been serving faithfully, you trust in God, you have been caring everybody else. And when you need somebody, nobody is there. I want to encourage you not to give up. I close with this poem that Minister Mitch, Pastor Hodge, or my brothers and sisters in this house who have been laboring, whether in this church or in the community or in the nation, you've been carrying a lot of weight, a lot of dead weight. You've been serving in everybody's agenda but yours. This is not selfish. It's called self-care. It's time you start focusing on what God has in store for you. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not all darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be confident? Who am I to be gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your plain small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in every one. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. So why do we shine? Why do we do good anyway? Because, in the words of Mother Teresa, you see, in the final analysis, is between you and your God. It was never between you and them, anyway. Shine. Shine. Bloom. Because God has so ordained you to be and do in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's keep this simple. This discernment I know is not for everybody. Some of you want to keep struggling. You want to keep carrying your burden and everybody else's burden. And you're going to leave this earth with an unfinished task because you're trying to fit every into everybody's agenda. You're trying to please everybody, but God. But I think there's one or two people in here who saying, God, I will rest when I need to, but I refuse to quit. I'm going forward. I just need a couple people who would agree with me. Come forward and stand with us today and say, by the grace of God, I will keep shining. People will wish you well until you do well. Shine anyway. Let's bow our heads as we get ready to pray. So you get used to lifting your hands. That's fine. But I like what Jesus says. If you're going to follow me, you got to take your cross and literally follow me. So if you're not ashamed, if you're desirous to turn things around in your family, in your church, in your home, in your school, wherever you are, to make that difference by shining. Don't dumb down who you are and what you can do because people are afraid of you and are jealous of you and don't know what to do when you are there. Shine anyway. Do I have any shiners? Do I have any bloomers? So, Father, we thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your goodness. Bless us now as we are about to go down from here. Help us to understand that you have indeed destined us for greatness. Help us to leave it all on the field, which is our life. So when we would have left earth, we have no regrets. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 47:22

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