A New Blog, Snow, & Never Give Up

Hi everyone!

I guess the most interesting things that for me happened this week is that I made a blog and that we had a snowstorm.

Making this blog was fun. It was a little tricky, but I have a brain, and Google, so I managed pretty well.😄 It helped that I had used Google Drawings before, because in Google Drawings, you have to do a lot of dragging things around, and deleting, and inserting, and all that jazz. I think that the moving backgrounds Wix has are so cool!

If you live in Winnipeg like I do, or near it, you`ll know that the weather around here likes to tease us Winnipeggers.😄 It gets really nice and warm, and we think it’s finally spring, and then we get a big snow! This is probably the biggest snow we had all winter, or if not the biggest, the second biggest. And it’s March! But oh well. I can wait. (Spring is my favorite season.)

Here’s a few pictures of the snow. (I know you Winnipeggers don`t need to see these, but some of my viewers live in the U.S.)

My mom made a snowman 😄

So I will get down to the spiritual lesson part of the post. Today I am talking about discouragement.

We Christians have many different ministries that we do. Perhaps we do evangelism on the streets or door-to-door. Perhaps we call and visit shut-ins. Perhaps we witness to neighbours and coworkers. Perhaps we help with Bible clubs for children. And whatever it is that we do, we can often get discouraged when people don’t respond the way we would like. We want to see these people become saved/turn back to the Lord, and when they don’t, it can be downright discouraging.

And don’t think I don’t know what discouragement is like. There are many people that my family and I have witnessed to for years, and I don`t believe that any of them have trusted Christ as their Saviour.

I think some of us are getting so discouraged that we regard some of our ministries that are particularly discouraging as lost missions.

A particularly discouraging ministry that I know of is the ministry that my church does at a mission in downtown Winnipeg called the Union Gospel Mission. Every fourth Sunday evening, some people from my church go there to sing and preach to the people there. If the people want soup and bread that night, they have to go to the chapel service that we hold before they can get it. And it is a really discouraging ministry. Before the preacher is even finished praying at the end of his message, most of the people are already at the exit, waiting for him to say “Amen” so that they can file out and go to get their soup and bread. Once in awhile one of them will stop to talk to talk for a minute or two, but then he leaves to go get his food and that’s the end of it. I can’t recall that anyone ever got saved there.

We never got a huge crowd of people from my church to come help with it, but I 've noticed that the number of people that come has decreased over the years. I think part of the reason for that is because the ministry we do at UGM is so discouraging. If there people often got saved at the chapel service, I think more people might come to UGM to help.

I believe that the reason we feel like giving up on ministries where little happens and start doing other ones where more people get saved/turn back to the Lord is because we want to see people come to the Lord. We want to be involved in thriving ministry. We want to lead people to Christ. We want lives to be transformed through our work. And when we work at our ministry for a long time and that doesn’t happen, we feel like quitting.

Some of my relatives and my mother and I witnessed to a man named Mr. Everly. My mother and I sent him cards and letters with Bible verses on them, and my relatives and my mom talked with him about where he stood with the Lord. From what he said when they talked with him, they don`t believe he was a Christian. And last year, he died, without having accepted Christ as his Saviour, as far as we know.

If I want you to get back to the ministries that are discouraging and where it seems that little fruit is produced, then why am I telling you that story? Why don’t I tell you about John Newton or Nicky Cruz?

Sometimes when we witness to people, they do become Christians. But the reality is, many people that we witness to will not become Christians. Does that mean that our ministries, our witnessing, is all a waste if the people we share the gospel with don’t come to Christ? Does that mean that we should all leave North America and go do our missions work in Syria or Yemen where people are scared and hungry and might be more open to the gospel?

I’m guessing that you answered “No” to that question. But why? Why isn’t it a waste of time to witness to those who will never end up becoming Christians?

Well, think about it from God’s perspective. I believe that God pursues us all, and I believe that He was pursuing Mr. Everly. Why did He pursue Mr. Everly if He knew that Mr. Everly would never become a Christian? Why did He bother?

I think it is because God loves Mr. Everly, and He wanted to show him that love, even though He knew that Mr. Everly would never respond. Whether they respond or not, showing love to someone is never a waste of time. Although the person you are witnessing to may not think so, witnessing is a loving thing to do. If you don’t care about someone, you won’t bother witnessing to them. But if you love someone, you care about their well-being. When we get to heaven, we want to be able to say that we did all we could to bring the unsaved to Christ. We must be loving and persistent even though we may not get the results we want. We should pursue others and love them the way Christ loves and pursues us.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

John 13:34

And we should remember what Galatians 6:9 says:

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

Don’t lose heart. Your efforts will produce fruit. Even if the person you witness to does not come to Christ, there will still be fruit. Perhaps we will become more patient, persistent, and loving Christians. Perhaps the people watching us will ask, “Why are you so persistent in sharing you faith?” And God promises that we will get a reward for our labor.

Keep on witnessing persistently and lovingly, and never give up. No matter the outcome, it will be worth it!

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