The Habit of Steadfastness
Notes
Transcript
Steadfastness
Steadfastness
We have been in a series called “Habits of a Healthy Heart.” Today we are wrapping up this series by talking about being steadfast. Sticking it out, hanging in there, being faithful on a daily basis. This idea is about more than dealing with some big and tough situation too. It’s about being consistent with the small things. There is a principle that says…
Being faithful in the little things is a big thing.
What are some small, faithful things you do on a daily or weekly basis? Every morning you probably have a routine that faithfully complete. Spend some quiet time with God, shower, brush your teeth, start your car and let it warm up before you go to work even though you don’t always feel like going to work.
While you are at work, you probably are faithful in some small things. Filling the coffee pot, sweeping the floors, organizing the shelves, making customers feel welcome. What are the small things you do at the end of the day? Feed the kids, read, play a game, prepare for tomorrow?
It’s more than just your daily routine too. What goals are you trying to accomplish? What are you trying to be successful at? That one workout you dread every day, but if you stick with it and you are faithful to do it, the next thing you know you could be forced to go out and buy new clothes because everything you own is far too big!
That person you keep reaching out to by phone and text messages to mend a broken relationship may blossom into a close friendship. Saving that dollar every day could eventually become a safety net of savings.
Sometimes it’s difficult to be faithful. Sometimes being faithful with something seems too big and you just want to quit. No matter what you try you can’t seem to lose weight, so you are ready to throw in the towel. You’ve been trying to win your friend back, but they won’t respond to any of your texts. You’ve been saving, but every time you get into triple digits something breaks.
In those moments it is even more important to be faithful in the little things. You have to stick with it. You have to be steadfast. These faithful little actions that we take will make a huge difference over time. It’s like the dripping sink or a leaky roof. Have you ever put a bucket under a leak in your roof? It is just a small drip, but if you come back a few hours later your bucket might be full.
The big church camp for kids in Oklahoma is Falls Creek. When I was a youth minister we took kids there every summer. As a church you would rent a cabin and stay there all week. The cabins usually had two big rooms full of bunks, one for girls and one for boys. They also had commercial kitchens with big sinks.
One of the cabins that we stayed at had a sign on the kitchen sink that said to leave the faucet over the right side of the sink because it dripped and the left tub would only drain if you held the stopper up. In the middle of the night one of the boys woke up with a nose bleed, so we went to the kitchen to wash him up and stop his nose from bleeding. Not thinking about it, we didn’t make sure the faucet was over the right tub when we finished. Early the next morning, the cooks were not happy because the floor was wet from water flowing out of the sink.
In a matter of 7 or 8 hours this tiny little drip turned into several gallons of water by simply being steadfast. Faithfully dripping a consistent drop of water in the sink over time.
Being faithful in the little things is a big thing. Today we are talking about the healthy habit of steadfastness.
Pray
Scripture teaches us this principle, and last week we even talked about it in our bible study before church…
Matthew 17:20 (NLT)
20 “...I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”
Small, faithful actions equal significant change. Being faithful in the little things is a big thing. It’s the faithful little decisions over time that make a tremendous impact on us and those around us.
I remember when I first heard about the 100 mile bicycle ride that Mike and Barry had done in Texas. Barry was telling me about it and how he goes every year. My first thought was, “What on earth is wrong with this guy? He’s crazy!” There is no way I could ride a bike that far. When I told him that would be impossible for me he said, “Ahh, you could do it, you just don’t want to go out and ride 100 miles one day without getting prepared. Just consistently ride a few miles each week for a few months leading up to it.”
He was exactly right. I’ll never forget the feeling of accomplishment that I had the first time I rode that 100 mile ride, and I never could have done it without faithfully riding a few miles every week first.
Over time, just a few miles can become a hundred. Just a little bit of faithful effort goes a long way. When Jesus told His disciples the parable about the shrewd manager He said…
Luke 16:10 (NLT)
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones…”
This year Amy and I will be celebrating 15 wonderful years of pure joy, fun, and excitement! That’s how marriage works, right? Actually, we used to argue a lot. Now, besides playful banter and the occasional over reaction, we really don’t fight too much. I think we are down to about 1 or 2 serious arguments per day.
In all seriousness though, when we did fight a lot I remember thinking, “How are we going to survive 10, 20, 30 years of this?” Even now, I may not ask that question any more, but I look to couples who have been together 30, 40, 50 years and it’s inspiring! You might even ask, “How did they do it? What’s the secret?”
How do you make it to these milestones? 50 years in a marriage. 20 years in a career. 10 years in a ministry. 4 years of college. 1 year of sobriety. 1 month on a workout plan. What does it take to stick it out? How do you hang in there and not quit? If you are taking notes, I’ll tell you what you have to have. You have got to have GRIT!
What is grit? It’s not the book by Angela Duckworth. It’s not the TV station. It’s not even the coffee. You don’t need Grit brand coffee to be steadfast. Sometimes coffee helps, but it’s not the grit we are talking about today. What is grit?
Grace
Resilience
Integrity
Teachability
We have another acrostic. These are fun and helpful, right? If you are going to hang in there and not quit, it takes grit. Grace, Resilience, Integrity, and Teachability. Let’s talk about these 4 important aspects of being steadfast.
Grace
Grace
The first thing you need is grace. You are going to need to give yourself some grace. You are going to make mistakes and not feel worthy, so it’s important to give yourself a little grace. Others around you are going to mess up. You will have to show grace to them. God said that His grace is sufficient, so let it be!
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”…
This story is too funny not to share, and honestly I am surprised something like this hasn’t happened to me.
Pastor Sam Roberts once shared about a time that he was traveling with a half dozen kids and they were all hungry. He decided that it would be best to stop and get food rather than letting the pantry get wiped out when they got home. Normally in this kind of situation, because of how easy it is, he uses the Chic-Fil-A app. Today, some of the kids wanted Panda Express instead.
So he made the Chic-Fil-A order on his phone and had his daughter make the Panda Express order. He picked up the chicken first and said it went super smooth. They scanned the QR code on his phone and handed him his food. It went so well he wasn’t even sure he came to a complete stop in the drive through.
Next he had to pick up the Panda Express. He goes in and looks at the mobile order shelves, but there are no orders on the shelves so he walks to the counter and asks the guy at the register if the food for Sam Roberts is ready. They guy says, “No, I’m sorry, but we don’t even have an order for Sam Roberts.” Well, it’s probably under his daughter’s name, Grace. “No, there is no Grace Roberts either.” How about his wife, Jamie?
The guy says, “I’m sorry, sir, we don’t have an order for any Roberts. Sometimes these orders accidentally get submitted to other locations, but we want to make this right so if you can tell me what you ordered we can get it started.”
Sam said, “Well, I’m not sure. I’ll have to call my daughter.” So he calls his daughter and the people behind him are getting frustrated. Finally, he tells the guy that what they ordered was Orange Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, and some Chow Mien. At that, everyone behind him looked at him confused. They guy behind the counter looked at him confused. Even the cook peeked through the little window with a confused look on his face. That’s when the patient guy taking his order said, “Sir, this is Jack in the Box.”
Have you ever done something stupid like that? I do all the time, except when I make stupid mistakes I usually end up with physical injuries. When it happens, you make a stupid mistake, you have to have grace for yourself. God said, “My grace is sufficient for you...” You have to let God’s grace be sufficient for you.
We have got to have GRIT. That is Grace, and second is Resilience…
Resilience
Resilience
We have got to have resilience. What does it mean to be resilient? Paul says it best to the Galatians…
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Doing the right thing gets tiring after a while, especially when it doesn’t seem to make a difference, but Paul says don’t give up. Don’t let yourself get too tire to do good, be resilient. Hang in there. Don’t give up on your marriage. Don’t give up on your kids. Don’t give up on your calling. Sometimes it can feel like everything is stacked against you. It can feel like you are just being buried by the lack of progress or the failure. That’s when you just have to take a deep breath, shake it off, and don’t give up.
A Canadian band once did a cover of the Taylor Swift song, “Shake It Off.” When they cover a song, they typically use strange instruments like kazoos, chimes, and other toy-like things. In their video of this song they were also sitting on the beach. When the song was almost over, suddenly one of the band members emerged from the sand and literally shook the sand off of himself. When he did, the instruments that were attached to him shook and made music. Then he continued to play with the rest of the band.
To be resilient and keep playing with the band and reap a harvest, sometimes you will have to shake it off.
I love the story of the donkey who was trapped in a deep hole. It was deep enough that it was impossible for the farmer to pull him out. Feeling sorry for the donkey, the farmer decided to bury the donkey in hopes that it would put an end to his suffering.
So the farmer began shoveling dirt into the hole. What happened surprised the farmer. He would shovel dirt into the hole and land on the donkey, but instead of letting it bury him, the donkey would shake it off and then step up on the new dirt. With every shovel full the donkey would shake it off then step up, shake it off then step up.
Don’t let doing good weary you or bury you. Shake it off, then step up. Next is Integrity.
Integrity
Integrity
We talked about integrity a few months ago. If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.
Integrity is when your behavior matches your beliefs. Jesus teaches that rather than focusing on our outer image, we should focus on the work God is doing within us, and the outside will take care of itself. In other words, do the right thing and trust God with the results.
25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
50 years in a marriage, 20 years in a career, or a month of a healthy diet doesn’t come from hiding the truth and saying what you know someone wants to hear. Appearing righteous and successful may get you through the day, but it will eventually catch up to you.
9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.
Often our pride is what makes us abandon integrity, but we know that pride always comes before the fall. When pride tempts us to let go of integrity, it’s time to start over with grace again. Show yourself some grace when you mess up, be resilient, and take a firm grip to integrity. Talking about pride also brings us to being teachable.
Teachability
Teachability
Pride can deceive us into believing that we have already learned it all. I am supposed to be doing the teaching. One thing I have learned in life is that we are always a student. There is always something to learn. At work, I am constantly amazed at things people come up with to do for fireplaces.
A fireplace is somewhere that you can safely place a fire in a structure where you sleep. Yet, I am regularly learning new ways that people will bend rules to make something work. Then I have to go research why that won’t work so I can explain it to them and come up with a new solution for them. Michael knows. He has been doing this much longer than I have, and I bet he even sees something new from time to time.
There is nothing more mind bending in the world than learning something new about God in His word. God has provided humanity with His truth since the beginning. We have even had a lot of it written in one place for several hundred years. Today you can buy as many bibles as you want. Yet, God is still revealing His truth to us new every day.
9 Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more.
According to this verse, what makes the wise man wiser? It isn’t what he already knows. It is the fact that he continues to learn. He is teachable. On the other hand, pride can make us believe that we already know. It can make us believe that we deserve a treat. That we can handle temptation. That we are standing too strong to fall.
Paul explained that that is what happened to the Israelites. They were brought up in the same faith that lead to Christ, yet some still fell to temptations. In 1 Corinthians, Paul said…
11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. 12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
To be steadfast takes GRIT. Giving Grace, being Resilient, showing Integrity, and having Teachability. Being faithful in the little things is a big thing. This idea is the climax of one of Jesus’ parables. He told the parable of the servants who were intrusted with their master’s wealth. One of the servants faithfully went to work and while the master was gone the servant doubled his money. When the master returned and saw this he said…
21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
To close, I want to share one more story from Pastor Roberts because it really struck me.
When he was in college he would often go to the cafeteria to eat. The guy who was always there to take orders was named Leon. No matter what you ordered he would always say one of three things. When a guy would order, he would either call him a turkey or a pig, and when a girl would order he called her a pretty girl.
So if a guy walked up and ordered an omelet he would say, “One omelet for the turkey here!” But if you were hungry and ordered extra food, like two burgers, he’d say, “Two burgers for the pig today, he’s feeling hungry.” It didn’t matter what the girl ordered. If a girl was right behind you in line and ordered five burgers he would say, “This pretty girl needs five burgers.”
It didn’t matter what kind of day you were having, when you went to the cafeteria you always wound up with a smile on your face because Leon was there doing his thing.
By the end of his senior year, Sam had seen many people come through the school. The university would give awards to all sorts of successful people. Celebrities, state and federal politicians, foreign dignitaries, successful academics with triple doctorates from Oxford, and many other types of successful people. They would come to these ceremonies and accept their awards and give interesting speeches and everyone would clap.
At the end of this ceremony the president of the university came up and said that they had one award they wanted to give. The distinguished staff member award. Sam wondered which professor could be getting this award, because there were many of them who had great accolades. Then the president said, “This year’s distinguished staff member award goes to Leon...”
As soon as he said Leon’s name, something happened that Sam had never seen happen at one of these ceremonies. The whole student body erupted with cheers and clapping, standing from their seats and going crazy. They even started chanting, “Leon, Leon, Leon…” Sam said he didn’t even know what the president said afterward because you couldn’t even hear him.
When he looked at Leon, he could see him sitting with his family who were all wiping tears as they began to realize the tremendous impact that this one faithful man had on the entire student body. One omelet at a time, he was faithful in the little things and it became a really big thing.
Whatever journey God has you on, don’t quit. Find GRIT inside of you. The GRACE for God’s grace to be sufficient for you. Have the RESILIENCE to be a person of INTEGRITY, and always be TEACHABLE. Not growing weary in doing the little things so that one day you will get the greatest gift of all. Greater than your name being chanted in a crowd. The day when Jesus reaches out to give you a big hug and says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Pray