Dear brothers and sisters,
Last week we talked about how being faithful in the little things is one way of being a good steward of the grace of God that’s in your life. When one stewards the grace of God in their lives by being faithful in little things, then God entrusts them with greater things. Little things matter a whole lot in the Kingdom of God. Ignoring or overlooking the little things can make one miss the plan of God.
The next way you can be a good steward of the grace of God in your life is by being faithful for the long haul.
Look at
Proverbs 28:20
A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. NKJV Amplified Bible says he who hastens to be rich at any cost shall not go unpunished.
Everybody likes the sound of “abounding with blessings”. We know that part of our Blessing is becoming rich. But the danger is being in a hurry. Hastening to be something is the opposite of faithfulness. It is faithfulness for the long haul that is tied to abounding with the blessing. Being in a hurry can get you out of your place. It may look like it’s taking a long time to be faithful, but faithful people actually get things going quicker. Unfaithful people fail one test after another, and they waste much time that could have been counted towards their “faithful time.”
Think about Ruth the Moabite girl whose husband Naomi’s son had died.
Ruth 1:15-17 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” NKJV
This was her commitment to faithfulness for the long term. Something in Ruth knew, “this is my place. I may not have a husband anymore, but I can follow the God of my mother in law. God connected me with this woman for a reason.” She ended up meeting and marrying Boaz, the rich kinsman of Naomi’s and eventually in the genealogy of Jesus Christ! Was she blessed? Did she abound in the blessing? Her faithfulness called for the abundant blessing. Naomi didn’t know it but God had Ruth on the right course.
What happened to the other girl who had been married to Naomi’s other son? She went back to her gods. She went back to look after herself. She stayed with what she knew. She was unfaithful.
When God joins you to His things or His people, this is not to be taken lightly. It is not something to quit whenever your wishes are not fulfilled, whenever you’re not promoted quickly, or whenever you feel like you’re not recognized. Faithfulness will keep you in your place for the long haul in that place where you will end up abounding in the Blessing.
Think about Elijah and Elisha. (2Kings 2) When it was time for Elijah to be taken to heaven, he begged Elisha to stay back. Elisha would not leave him. He had opportunities to leave Elijah at Gilgal, at Bethel and at Jericho. Entering his full anointing was contingent on him following Elijah all the way past Jordan till he saw him taken up. Faithfulness called him on to the double portion of the anointing he had desired and asked for. And he got it!
How about you brother or sister; will you pass or fail the test of faithfulness?