The Secret to Faith that Thrives Under Pressure
It's easy to be fired up when everything is going your way. When prayers are being answered, when opportunities are opening, when everything seems to be working, it's easy to come across as a Christian who has it all together.
But what do you do when prayers are not answered?
What do you do when you've spent years and years and years preparing, but the opportunity has never presented itself?
What do you do when you begin to walk by faith, but pressure comes?
What do you do when you're being bent but you're not broken?
When you're being beaten on the anvil of your calling and you're crying, but you know that the Lord is shaping your purpose?
When you're being put into the furnace and sometimes it feels lonely, but God is refining you?
I want to talk to you about a faith that thrives under pressure.
Paul is going to face shipwrecks, beatings, slander, imprisonment, criticism, and much more before he makes his way to Rome. Yet what comes out of him is a faith that knows how to thrive under pressure.
We all have a pressure index. You can only take so much before you go kaboom.
I've told my family many times, “I am this close to losing it.” And I meant it. I've felt that way in church. I've felt that way leading a church. I'm this close to throwing in the towel and walking away.
Truth be told, I face pressure every day, every week, in various scenarios and various ways.
And if you're honest, you do too. If you're living, if you have a pulse, this world throws anxieties at you. It throws pressure at you. It throws depression at you. It throws things at you that you cannot sweep under the church carpet and call it good.
You've got to deal with it.
That's why I want to show you the secret to a faith that thrives under pressure.
Before we go further, I want you to understand something very clearly.
A faith that thrives under pressure is not sustained by personality or willpower.
This isn't about being more flamboyant, more eloquent, more talented, or finding an opportunity to get on a stage.
The faith I'm talking about is formed by the gospel.
The Spirit empowers this faith.
And there are values that expose it.
Every believer who has given their life to Jesus ought to see traces of these values in their life. And when you see them, get excited. Say, “Lord, I want more of this faith.”
Not because you've mastered it, but because you want more of Jesus.
So let's look at what Paul shows us.
1. Serve With a Surrendered Spirit
The first characteristic I see in the apostle Paul's life, and in every believer who has experienced the gospel, is this:
They serve with a surrendered spirit.
Paul says:
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son.”
God is his witness.
That can be exciting for some people and terrifying for others.
Man looks at the outside. Man looks at how many times you served, how many times you tithed, how many times you showed up to church, how many times you wore a cross, how many times you said, “Praise the Lord,” how many times you prayed before you ate.
But God sees how you serve.
God sees with what heart you come.
God sees with what heart you get up in the morning and go to work.
God sees whether the gospel is what's fueling you to walk by faith or whether you're just walking mechanically.
The word “serve” here is latruo, which is a very interesting word. The Hebrew equivalent I connected it with is abad, a word used multiple times for the priests serving in the tabernacle and temple.
But Paul does something beautiful with this idea of service. It's not merely external service.
Romans 12:1 says:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”
There is an external manifestation. There is discipline. There is surrender and submission.
But it comes from something happening within.
Too many times we're doing the external things thinking that if we do enough external things, the inside will change.
No, no, no.
It starts here.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6 that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit and that we are not our own. We were bought with a price.
I was reminded of that this week when I had to say goodbye to one of my motorcycles.
I like working on motorcycles. I fix them up, ride them for a bit, and eventually sell them. This particular Harley was a bike I really liked, and I didn't really want to sell it. But we needed to downsize.
But what do you do when prayers are not answered?
What do you do when you've spent years and years and years preparing, but the opportunity has never presented itself?
What do you do when you begin to walk by faith, but pressure comes?
What do you do when you're being bent but you're not broken?
When you're being beaten on the anvil of your calling and you're crying, but you know that the Lord is shaping your purpose?
When you're being put into the furnace and sometimes it feels lonely, but God is refining you?
I want to talk to you about a faith that thrives under pressure.
Paul is going to face shipwrecks, beatings, slander, imprisonment, criticism, and much more before he makes his way to Rome. Yet what comes out of him is a faith that knows how to thrive under pressure.
We all have a pressure index. You can only take so much before you go kaboom.
I've told my family many times, “I am this close to losing it.” And I meant it. I've felt that way in church. I've felt that way leading a church. I'm this close to throwing in the towel and walking away.
Truth be told, I face pressure every day, every week, in various scenarios and various ways.
And if you're honest, you do too. If you're living, if you have a pulse, this world throws anxieties at you. It throws pressure at you. It throws depression at you. It throws things at you that you cannot sweep under the church carpet and call it good.
You've got to deal with it.
That's why I want to show you the secret to a faith that thrives under pressure.
Before we go further, I want you to understand something very clearly.
A faith that thrives under pressure is not sustained by personality or willpower.
This isn't about being more flamboyant, more eloquent, more talented, or finding an opportunity to get on a stage.
The faith I'm talking about is formed by the gospel.
The Spirit empowers this faith.
And there are values that expose it.
Every believer who has given their life to Jesus ought to see traces of these values in their life. And when you see them, get excited. Say, “Lord, I want more of this faith.”
Not because you've mastered it, but because you want more of Jesus.
So let's look at what Paul shows us.
1. Serve With a Surrendered Spirit
The first characteristic I see in the apostle Paul's life, and in every believer who has experienced the gospel, is this:
They serve with a surrendered spirit.
Paul says:
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son.”
God is his witness.
That can be exciting for some people and terrifying for others.
Man looks at the outside. Man looks at how many times you served, how many times you tithed, how many times you showed up to church, how many times you wore a cross, how many times you said, “Praise the Lord,” how many times you prayed before you ate.
But God sees how you serve.
God sees with what heart you come.
God sees with what heart you get up in the morning and go to work.
God sees whether the gospel is what's fueling you to walk by faith or whether you're just walking mechanically.
The word “serve” here is latruo, which is a very interesting word. The Hebrew equivalent I connected it with is abad, a word used multiple times for the priests serving in the tabernacle and temple.
But Paul does something beautiful with this idea of service. It's not merely external service.
Romans 12:1 says:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”
There is an external manifestation. There is discipline. There is surrender and submission.
But it comes from something happening within.
Too many times we're doing the external things thinking that if we do enough external things, the inside will change.
No, no, no.
It starts here.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6 that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit and that we are not our own. We were bought with a price.
I was reminded of that this week when I had to say goodbye to one of my motorcycles.
I like working on motorcycles. I fix them up, ride them for a bit, and eventually sell them. This particular Harley was a bike I really liked, and I didn't really want to sell it. But we needed to downsize.
When the guy came to pick it up, he was admiring the bike. He started telling me all the things he was going to change.
I'm thinking, “You're going to do what? You're going to change the handlebars? You're going to change the suspension?”
But I couldn't tell him what to do with that bike. It wasn't mine anymore, I had signed the title away. Now he gets to do what he wants with that bike.
And when you came to Jesus, the title deed for your life was changed.
The beauty is that the title didn't change from your name because it was never your life to begin with. It's always been His life. He's your Creator. He's the one who made you.
But the gospel came and shined this beautiful light, and you said, “I belong to Jesus.”
So now I don't belong to the world.
I don't belong to my divorce.
I don't belong to my illness.
I don't belong to a poverty mentality.
I don't belong to a religion or a denomination.
I belong to Jesus.
And because of that, I want to serve Him.
Romans 7:6 says that we serve “in a new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”
It's not simply, “What do you want me to do? When do you want me to show up? Okay, fine. I'll show up.”
There is zeal.
There is passion.
And that zeal doesn't come because of what you know. It comes because of who you know.
The title deed belongs to Him.
I see His name on my life.
"And now, Lord, I want to serve You."
Maybe you're thinking, “But Pastor, I'm not a pastor. I'm not an evangelist. I'm not a worship pastor. I'm not an apostle.”
What does this look like in your life?
Whatever it is God puts you to do, whatever opportunities He places you in, you can serve with a surrendered spirit.
You could be sweeping your house and say, “Lord, because I belong to You, I want to serve with a surrendered spirit.”
Trust me, your sweeping will change.
I remember when I was a youth pastor, we were meeting in the art garage while we were renovating the youth chapel. One Sunday morning, one of the youth was sweeping the floor. I asked her if she had swept behind the chairs.
She said, “No, nobody's going to see it.”
That made sense. Nobody was going to see it.
But something in my spirit taught me something that day.
I said, “But the Lord sees it. And we're going to worship Him here. So out of honor for Him, let's do that.”
That moment has stayed with me.
“If I can trust you with little, then I can trust you with more.”
Whatever you do—whether you're sweeping a floor, caring for patients, cutting hair, working a call center, taking care of babies at home, doing dishes, cooking, or sitting in a classroom - you can say: “Lord, I want to serve You with a surrendered spirit.”
But this kind of service is hard.
To wake up every day and say, “Lord, I want to serve You with a surrendered spirit” is hard.
And that's why this unshakable faith needs to be fueled in prayer.
2. Pray With a Submitted Will
Surrender and submission go together.
The second thing I see is this:
Pray with a submitted will.
If you're stiff-necked like a mule, this is going to be really hard for you.
Here's what's going to happen when you start praying, “Lord, I want to serve You with a surrendered spirit.” - Because God has a sense of humor and He loves you, He's going to put you in places that show you why you're not surrendered.
Not because He hates you; Pressure will reveal what's in you.
He's going to show you where your heart and desire are good, but where you still need to grow.
Paul says:
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow, by God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.”
Pay attention to that last part: Paul really wants to go to Rome.
He's not hiding his desire, but his desire is under a much deeper trust.
He's saying, “I really want to come see you, but I want God's will more.”
Mature prayer isn't devoid of your desires.
If you want to get married, it's okay to say, “Lord, I really want to get married.”
If there's someone you want to marry, you can bring that desire to God.
But your desire has to be surrendered to God's will.
Paul isn't pushing his way in Jesus' name. He's submitted to God's will.
And Paul prays always.
That doesn't mean he's on his knees every second of the day.
It means the rhythm of his life is prayer.
Every time he experiences a burden, he's praying.
Every time he experiences opposition, he's praying.
Every time he meets someone new, he's praying.
Every time he's excited, he's praying.
Every time he's doubtful, he's praying.
Every time something new happens, he's praying.
Everything in his life is surrounded with prayer.
There is a beautiful hymn that says:
“What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry everything to Him in prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit.
Oh, what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry everything to Him in prayer."
Philippians 4:6–7 says:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
God isn't saying, “Don't bring your desires to Me.”
You can say, “Lord, I really would like this.”
But you can also say, “Lord, I want this if it is Your will.”
My prayers can be big because my God is big.
But my prayers don't force God into my will.
My prayers shape me and form me into His plan and His purpose for my life.
I may not know how my prayer will be answered.
It may not be answered the way I want it answered.
But my God who hears will send me an answer, even if His answer is no.
And it can bring me peace.
Philippians says that "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus."
That's a peace the world can never give.
When I face uncertainty, I need to take it to the Lord.
Peter says:
“Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
How many anxieties? All of them.
Paul isn't saying, “God, I'm going to hold You hostage until You send me to Rome.”
He's saying, “Lord, I really want this. And I want my church to know I really want this. But I want God's will to be done more than anything else.”
A faith that thrives under pressure trusts beyond the pain.
When you know the character of God and you're rehearsing the promises of God, you're able to pray with a submitted will because you know that whatever He takes you through, in the end He will get His glory.
And His glory is our greatest good.
If you think Paul is a weak example, look at Jesus.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed:
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”
His heart was being crushed.
And yet He surrendered His will.
You might have been praying for an open door and you haven't seen it.
Stay in prayer.
You might have been praying for influence, but all God has allowed is pain.
In the pain, your testimony may be speaking much louder than your words because people can see your life in pain and see that without grace, it would be impossible for you to do what you're doing.
You might have been praying for strength and God has allowed weakness in your life so that you will know that His grace is sufficient.
So pray until you can truthfully say:
“Lord, I want this, but I want You more.”
“Lord, I really want this, but I really want You more.”
Not as mental gymnastics to convince yourself, but so that your spirit recognizes who the Lord is.
Sometimes you have to teach yourself not to go back to the old ways.
“Lord, I want this day to go a particular way, but Lord, I want Your way.”
Prayer does not force God into your will.
It moves me to be shaped and formed into His plan and His purpose for my life.
3. Strength Through Shared Faith
Now this private growing—this private intimacy with Jesus—begins to explode externally.
The third thing I see is:
Strength through shared faith.
Whenever you face anxiety and pressure in life, there is something very common that people tend to do: We isolate.
You stop showing up to church.
You stop talking to believers.
You isolate.
Now, there is a healthy retreat that we need. Some of you need to pull away from people so you can spend time with God. That's healthy.
But I'm talking about unhealthy isolation.
You start living on maintenance.
You stop trusting God.
You become grabby.
You develop a poverty mentality.
You try to save yesterday's manna for today, and it's all turning to worms.
You still have the Jesus talk going on, but there is no Jesus in your life.
A faith that survives pressure is surrendered. It is submitted. And it speaks courage to the people around it.
It creates a thriving community of courage.
When you come to church, you're not just coming to consume.
You're coming to be a person who gives courage to those around you.
The encouragement isn't supposed to come only from the pastor or from the songs we sing; it's supposed to come from each and every person who comes to church.
When we're walking with a surrendered spirit and a submitted will in prayer, we begin to explode in encouragement.
Romans 1:11–12 says:
“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.”
Paul is a church planter. Thirteen books in the New Testament bear his name.
He could have walked into Rome and said, “I'm the apostle Paul. Sit down and listen to me.”
But that's not what he says.
He says, “I want to encourage you.”
And then he says that he wants to be encouraged by them too.
That's beautiful.
When you enter the church, you're bringing your testimony with you.
You're not leaving it in the car.
You're bringing your story with you.
You're bringing your endurance in faith.
You're bringing the gifts God has given you.
You're bringing the warfare you've fought this week.
You're bringing evidence that grace is still working.
When I get up to preach, I'm fired up not only because of what I've seen in God's Word and what I've experienced in my spirit at home.
I'm fired up because I see your faith.
When I hear about baptisms, when I hear people say, “Pastor, my faith is growing,” it encourages me.
When someone tells me, “I didn't realize how much trauma I've been dealing with, but praise the Lord, I'm free now,” that encourages my spirit.
When I hear about your hardships and see you walk by faith, I want to start dancing.
When someone says, “The enemy had me down. I struggled. I was depressed, but I dragged myself to church and the Lord spoke to me,” I want to celebrate.
Even when you're at home and you open your Bible and say, “Pastor, I struggled. I was doubting. I fought with my wife, but the Lord convicted me and I repented,” I'm encouraged.
I'm not here as the man who knows everything about the Lord and has come to teach everybody else. I'm learning from you too.
That's what this beautiful faith does.
It is surrendered in prayer, and then it bursts out in encouragement.
Just by you existing.
Just by you coming to fellowship.
It brings encouragement.
Hebrews tells us to "consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another all the more as the day draws near."
Start With one person
I want you to apply this.
Find one person whose faith is encouraging you and tell them.
And on the other hand, find someone you know who is hurting.
Maybe you're an introvert like me and you're awkward like me, but you know people in your life who are hurting. Text them. Talk to them. Let them know they are not alone in carrying the burden they're carrying. Tell them you're praying for them. Tell them the Lord sees it.
Tell them you're praying for God's will to be done.
There is coming a day when there will be no more tears.
There is coming a day when there will be no more death.
But in the meantime, Charles Spurgeon reminds me, saints will cry.
Saints will feel the pain of standing at the casket of a loved one.
Saints will face moments when, if God doesn't intervene, they will surely die.
But praise the Lord that the God who has called us is faithful.
He who began a good work will see it to the end.
So let's come in obedience.
Let's come with a surrendered spirit.
Let's come with a submitted will.
Let's strengthen one another.
And let's trust the Lord with the faith that thrives under pressure.
I'm thinking, “You're going to do what? You're going to change the handlebars? You're going to change the suspension?”
But I couldn't tell him what to do with that bike. It wasn't mine anymore, I had signed the title away. Now he gets to do what he wants with that bike.
And when you came to Jesus, the title deed for your life was changed.
The beauty is that the title didn't change from your name because it was never your life to begin with. It's always been His life. He's your Creator. He's the one who made you.
But the gospel came and shined this beautiful light, and you said, “I belong to Jesus.”
So now I don't belong to the world.
I don't belong to my divorce.
I don't belong to my illness.
I don't belong to a poverty mentality.
I don't belong to a religion or a denomination.
I belong to Jesus.
And because of that, I want to serve Him.
Romans 7:6 says that we serve “in a new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”
It's not simply, “What do you want me to do? When do you want me to show up? Okay, fine. I'll show up.”
There is zeal.
There is passion.
And that zeal doesn't come because of what you know. It comes because of who you know.
The title deed belongs to Him.
I see His name on my life.
"And now, Lord, I want to serve You."
Maybe you're thinking, “But Pastor, I'm not a pastor. I'm not an evangelist. I'm not a worship pastor. I'm not an apostle.”
What does this look like in your life?
Whatever it is God puts you to do, whatever opportunities He places you in, you can serve with a surrendered spirit.
You could be sweeping your house and say, “Lord, because I belong to You, I want to serve with a surrendered spirit.”
Trust me, your sweeping will change.
I remember when I was a youth pastor, we were meeting in the art garage while we were renovating the youth chapel. One Sunday morning, one of the youth was sweeping the floor. I asked her if she had swept behind the chairs.
She said, “No, nobody's going to see it.”
That made sense. Nobody was going to see it.
But something in my spirit taught me something that day.
I said, “But the Lord sees it. And we're going to worship Him here. So out of honor for Him, let's do that.”
That moment has stayed with me.
“If I can trust you with little, then I can trust you with more.”
Whatever you do—whether you're sweeping a floor, caring for patients, cutting hair, working a call center, taking care of babies at home, doing dishes, cooking, or sitting in a classroom - you can say: “Lord, I want to serve You with a surrendered spirit.”
But this kind of service is hard.
To wake up every day and say, “Lord, I want to serve You with a surrendered spirit” is hard.
And that's why this unshakable faith needs to be fueled in prayer.
2. Pray With a Submitted Will
Surrender and submission go together.
The second thing I see is this:
Pray with a submitted will.
If you're stiff-necked like a mule, this is going to be really hard for you.
Here's what's going to happen when you start praying, “Lord, I want to serve You with a surrendered spirit.” - Because God has a sense of humor and He loves you, He's going to put you in places that show you why you're not surrendered.
Not because He hates you; Pressure will reveal what's in you.
He's going to show you where your heart and desire are good, but where you still need to grow.
Paul says:
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow, by God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.”
Pay attention to that last part: Paul really wants to go to Rome.
He's not hiding his desire, but his desire is under a much deeper trust.
He's saying, “I really want to come see you, but I want God's will more.”
Mature prayer isn't devoid of your desires.
If you want to get married, it's okay to say, “Lord, I really want to get married.”
If there's someone you want to marry, you can bring that desire to God.
But your desire has to be surrendered to God's will.
Paul isn't pushing his way in Jesus' name. He's submitted to God's will.
And Paul prays always.
That doesn't mean he's on his knees every second of the day.
It means the rhythm of his life is prayer.
Every time he experiences a burden, he's praying.
Every time he experiences opposition, he's praying.
Every time he meets someone new, he's praying.
Every time he's excited, he's praying.
Every time he's doubtful, he's praying.
Every time something new happens, he's praying.
Everything in his life is surrounded with prayer.
There is a beautiful hymn that says:
“What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry everything to Him in prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit.
Oh, what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry everything to Him in prayer."
Philippians 4:6–7 says:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
God isn't saying, “Don't bring your desires to Me.”
You can say, “Lord, I really would like this.”
But you can also say, “Lord, I want this if it is Your will.”
My prayers can be big because my God is big.
But my prayers don't force God into my will.
My prayers shape me and form me into His plan and His purpose for my life.
I may not know how my prayer will be answered.
It may not be answered the way I want it answered.
But my God who hears will send me an answer, even if His answer is no.
And it can bring me peace.
Philippians says that "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus."
That's a peace the world can never give.
When I face uncertainty, I need to take it to the Lord.
Peter says:
“Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
How many anxieties? All of them.
Paul isn't saying, “God, I'm going to hold You hostage until You send me to Rome.”
He's saying, “Lord, I really want this. And I want my church to know I really want this. But I want God's will to be done more than anything else.”
A faith that thrives under pressure trusts beyond the pain.
When you know the character of God and you're rehearsing the promises of God, you're able to pray with a submitted will because you know that whatever He takes you through, in the end He will get His glory.
And His glory is our greatest good.
If you think Paul is a weak example, look at Jesus.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed:
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”
His heart was being crushed.
And yet He surrendered His will.
You might have been praying for an open door and you haven't seen it.
Stay in prayer.
You might have been praying for influence, but all God has allowed is pain.
In the pain, your testimony may be speaking much louder than your words because people can see your life in pain and see that without grace, it would be impossible for you to do what you're doing.
You might have been praying for strength and God has allowed weakness in your life so that you will know that His grace is sufficient.
So pray until you can truthfully say:
“Lord, I want this, but I want You more.”
“Lord, I really want this, but I really want You more.”
Not as mental gymnastics to convince yourself, but so that your spirit recognizes who the Lord is.
Sometimes you have to teach yourself not to go back to the old ways.
“Lord, I want this day to go a particular way, but Lord, I want Your way.”
Prayer does not force God into your will.
It moves me to be shaped and formed into His plan and His purpose for my life.
3. Strength Through Shared Faith
Now this private growing—this private intimacy with Jesus—begins to explode externally.
The third thing I see is:
Strength through shared faith.
Whenever you face anxiety and pressure in life, there is something very common that people tend to do: We isolate.
You stop showing up to church.
You stop talking to believers.
You isolate.
Now, there is a healthy retreat that we need. Some of you need to pull away from people so you can spend time with God. That's healthy.
But I'm talking about unhealthy isolation.
You start living on maintenance.
You stop trusting God.
You become grabby.
You develop a poverty mentality.
You try to save yesterday's manna for today, and it's all turning to worms.
You still have the Jesus talk going on, but there is no Jesus in your life.
A faith that survives pressure is surrendered. It is submitted. And it speaks courage to the people around it.
It creates a thriving community of courage.
When you come to church, you're not just coming to consume.
You're coming to be a person who gives courage to those around you.
The encouragement isn't supposed to come only from the pastor or from the songs we sing; it's supposed to come from each and every person who comes to church.
When we're walking with a surrendered spirit and a submitted will in prayer, we begin to explode in encouragement.
Romans 1:11–12 says:
“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.”
Paul is a church planter. Thirteen books in the New Testament bear his name.
He could have walked into Rome and said, “I'm the apostle Paul. Sit down and listen to me.”
But that's not what he says.
He says, “I want to encourage you.”
And then he says that he wants to be encouraged by them too.
That's beautiful.
When you enter the church, you're bringing your testimony with you.
You're not leaving it in the car.
You're bringing your story with you.
You're bringing your endurance in faith.
You're bringing the gifts God has given you.
You're bringing the warfare you've fought this week.
You're bringing evidence that grace is still working.
When I get up to preach, I'm fired up not only because of what I've seen in God's Word and what I've experienced in my spirit at home.
I'm fired up because I see your faith.
When I hear about baptisms, when I hear people say, “Pastor, my faith is growing,” it encourages me.
When someone tells me, “I didn't realize how much trauma I've been dealing with, but praise the Lord, I'm free now,” that encourages my spirit.
When I hear about your hardships and see you walk by faith, I want to start dancing.
When someone says, “The enemy had me down. I struggled. I was depressed, but I dragged myself to church and the Lord spoke to me,” I want to celebrate.
Even when you're at home and you open your Bible and say, “Pastor, I struggled. I was doubting. I fought with my wife, but the Lord convicted me and I repented,” I'm encouraged.
I'm not here as the man who knows everything about the Lord and has come to teach everybody else. I'm learning from you too.
That's what this beautiful faith does.
It is surrendered in prayer, and then it bursts out in encouragement.
Just by you existing.
Just by you coming to fellowship.
It brings encouragement.
Hebrews tells us to "consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another all the more as the day draws near."
Start With one person
I want you to apply this.
Find one person whose faith is encouraging you and tell them.
And on the other hand, find someone you know who is hurting.
Maybe you're an introvert like me and you're awkward like me, but you know people in your life who are hurting. Text them. Talk to them. Let them know they are not alone in carrying the burden they're carrying. Tell them you're praying for them. Tell them the Lord sees it.
Tell them you're praying for God's will to be done.
There is coming a day when there will be no more tears.
There is coming a day when there will be no more death.
But in the meantime, Charles Spurgeon reminds me, saints will cry.
Saints will feel the pain of standing at the casket of a loved one.
Saints will face moments when, if God doesn't intervene, they will surely die.
But praise the Lord that the God who has called us is faithful.
He who began a good work will see it to the end.
So let's come in obedience.
Let's come with a surrendered spirit.
Let's come with a submitted will.
Let's strengthen one another.
And let's trust the Lord with the faith that thrives under pressure.
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