When All You Can Do Is Be Faithful

Read: Matthew 25:14-30 Luke 16:10, Matthew 23:23

Luke 16:10 (KJV)

10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Matthew 23:23 (KJV)

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

There is something about the American or probably any country that loves the story of the little man, man against the odds scenario. Someone is born in obscure and insurmountable circumstances and works hard and after a while becomes prosperous and beyond their earlier circumstances.

Famous People Who Were Slow Starters:

Winston Churchill seemed so dull as a youth that his father thought he might be incapable of earning a living in England. Charles Darwin did so poorly in school that his father once told him, "You will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.

G.K. Chesterton, the English writer, could not read until he was eight. One of his teachers told him, "If we could open your head we should not find any brain but only a lump of white fat."

Thomas Edison's first teacher described him as "addled," and his father almost convinced him he was a "dunce."

Albert Einstein's parents feared their child was dull, and he performed so badly in all high school courses except mathematics that a teacher asked him to drop out.

Irving Wallace, Book of Lists, 1986, Wm. Morrow & Co., Ny, Ny.

From <http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/perseverance.htm>

Such as Truett Cathy who started out with just a little money, a small restaurant (Dwarf Grill), and some old fashioned faithfulness, passed away a in 2014 with huge chain of restaurants and wealthy.

Faithfulness is a stick - to-it-iveness whether or not I am acknowledged or applauded (doing it as unto the Lord) Faithfulness is not a gift of the spirit but rather elbow-grease and discipline (Paul said, 1 Corinthians 9:27 (KJV)

27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. " Booker T. Washington called it Yankee Grit.

Faithfulness is a continuing to do the best I can even if it is the smallest or most menial of tasks

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CHAPTER III.

LIFE AT HAMPTON INSTITUTE.

After my mother and brother John had secured me a few extra garments, with what I could provide for myself, I started for Hampton, about the first of October, 1872. How long I was on this journey I have at this time no very definite idea. Part of the way I went by railroad, part in a stage, and part on foot. I remember that when I got as far as Richmond, Virginia, I was completely out of money, and knew not a single person in the city. Besides, I had never been in a city before. I think it was about nine o'clock at night that I reached Richmond. I was hungry, tired and dirty, and had no where to go. I wandered about the streets until about midnight, when I felt completely exhausted.

By chance I came to a street that had a plank sidewalk, and I crept under this sidewalk and spent the night. The next morning I felt very much rested, but was still quite hungry, as it had been some time since I had a good meal. When I awoke, I noticed some ships not far from where I had spent the night. I went to one of these vessels and asked the captain to permit me to

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work for him, so that I could earn some money to get some food. The captain very kindly gave me work, which was that of helping to unload pig iron from the vessel. In my rather weak and hungry condition I found this hard work, but I stuck to it, and was given enough money to buy a little food. My work seemed to have pleased the master of the vessel so much that he furnished me with work for several days, but I continued to sleep under the sidewalk each night, for I was anxious to save enough money to pay my passage to Hampton.

After working on this vessel for some days, I started again for Hampton, and arrived there in a day or two, with a surplus of fifty cents in my pocket. I did not let any one know how forlorn my condition was. I feared that if I did, I would be rejected as one that was altogether too unpromising. The first person I saw after reaching the Hampton Institute was Miss Mary F. Mackie, the Lady Principal. After she had asked me many searching questions, with a good deal of doubt and hesitation in her manner, I was assigned to a room. She remarked at the same time that it would be decided later whether I could be admitted as a student. I shall not soon forget the impression that the sight of a good, clean, comfortable room and bed made upon me, for I had not slept in a bed since

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I left my home in West Virginia. Within a few hours I presented myself again before Miss Mackie to hear my fate, but she still seemed to be undecided. Instead of telling me whether or not I could remain, I remember, she showed me a large recitation room and told me to sweep it. I felt at once that the sweeping of that room would decide my case. I knew I could sweep, for Mrs. Ruffner had taught me that art well. I think that I must have swept that room over as many as three times, and dusted it the same number of times. After awhile Miss Mackie came into the room and rubbed her handkerchief over the tables and benches to see if I had left any dust, but not a particle could she find. She remarked with a smile, "I guess we will try you as a student." At that moment I think I was the happiest individual that ever entered the Hampton Institute.

From <http://www.moellerhaus.com/AfroAmer/booker/washin.html#wash35>

Faithfulness is not concerned about success as much as finishing well. It's not the one who can run the most gracefully, or fastest but Matthew 24:13 (KJV) 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

I used to hear people say, "They wanted to see the end of a Christian life" and wondered what they meant by that, now I understand they wanted to finish well, wanted their life to end not in question marks of "did they make it?" but rather in exclamation "THEY MADE IT!!!"