Proverbs 28:20
A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
When I think of people who God used in the past, one glaring thing that comes from their lives is that they were in one place for a long time. My pastor, Dr. Jack Hyles, pastored the First Baptist Church for forty-two years. Dr. Lee Roberson pastored the Highland Park Baptist Church for thirty-seven years. Dr. Bobby Roberson pastored the Gospel Light Baptist Church for sixty-one years. One thing you will notice about these men is that they pastored for decades, and likely this is the reason God blessed their ministries greatly.
Too many people want God’s blessings immediately when His blessings happen over decades. God says, A faithful man shall abound with blessings…. The key to the blessings is being faithful. You don’t measure faithfulness in months or a few years, but you measure faithfulness in decades. Too many younger people want God’s blessings after a few years of doing something, but His greatest blessings come on those who are faithful over decades.
One of the keywords in the verse above is blessings. This word is plural. In other words, you can have God’s blessing, or you can have God’s blessings depending on how long you are faithful. You can do right for a short time and have His blessing, or you can do right for years and have His blessings. You can run your bus route for a short time and be blessed, or you can run your bus route for decades and have His blessings. This could be said about pastoring a church, teaching a Sunday school class, or serving God. Some people see God’s blessing and quit, while others are faithful for decades and experience His blessings. Let me share three thoughts about what it means to be faithful.
First, you can’t be faithful if you don’t have opportunities not to be faithful. One difference between those who have God’s blessings and those who were only blessed is that those who had God’s blessings were faithful when difficulties demanded that they quit. You will never see God’s blessings if you quit when adversity comes. Part of God’s blessings is knowing that you didn’t quit when you faced adversity. It is easy to be faithful when times are easy, but true faithfulness is not quitting when adversity arises. If you want God’s blessings, you must be faithful despite the trials and adversities that you face.
Second, you will never see blessings if faithfulness is not part of your character. Faithfulness is a choice. You have a choice whether to quit or continue. Nobody makes you quit; you choose to quit. You will never get to God’s blessings without choosing to continue when difficulties arise. People of character don’t know what it means to quit because they have taken quit out of their options. If you are going to be faithful, you will have to make faithfulness a character choice by choosing to throw quitting out of your options.
Third, you can’t be faithful without continuing for a length of time. God’s blessings come on those who continue to do what they are supposed to do for decades. The fruit of faithfulness doesn’t grow in a few months, but it is harvested in decades. My friend, you must decide that you will be faithful to what you are doing until the day you die if you are going to see God’s blessings on your life. Don’t stop doing what you are doing when you have the blessing, but continue until you see God’s blessings on your life.
