Dear Friends:
Greetings! Today I write this letter to encourage those who are already weary from difficult times and to those who may be just entering into difficult times. Hold tightly to these two Scriptures. Galatians 6:9 tells us “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Isaiah 4o:31 says “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.”
WAIT UPON THE LORD! IN DUE TIME, YOU WILL REAP
Waiting. It’s always the most difficult part. We cannot know for sure how deep, how long our valleys will be.
May these following examples be an encouragement to you.
Pastor Gabriel in Tuxtla pastored for 18 years in a very small building. Last week we finished construction of a beautiful, much larger church.
Pastor Fabian pastored in a small tar papered, cardboard building with a dirt floor for four years in Tuxtla. He now has a beautiful church and is continuing to add on.
Thirty years ago, I built a beautiful church in Atoyac, near Acapulco. Tom Shaffer and I also built a very nice medical facility. I left Atoyac and went to Chiapas Mexico to start a new work, and build a new headquarters. Several immoral pastors followed me in Atoyac and practically destroyed both the congregation and the building. It takes years and years to heal the wounds caused by immorality. The elders and deacons struggled for many years bbut never gave up. I preached there in February to a packed church. They are in the process of doubling the capacity of the auditorium, and their vision is to reach and build for a congregation of 3000. The medical ministry in Atoyac also suffered difficult times. Our Mexican doctor in charge of the clinic drowned in the ocean. Dr. Romero, the plastic surgeon from Lafayette retired for medical reasons. A very bad hurricane caused great damage to property and building. You don’t quit in difficult times. The property and building have been repaired and next month a dental team headed by Dr. Jerome Smith will be in Atoyac as they have for the past 20 plus years.
And my final example is this. I built and pastored a beautiful church in Denison Texas. God called me to the mission field in Mexico and I obeyed the call. Again, several immoral pastors followed my ministry in Denison. The congregation went to less than 20 and the building began to deteriorate. While visiting home from Mexico, I often stopped on the highway and looked at what I had built and wept. I recently preached in this church to a packed house. All Spanish speaking, and again I wept, but this time for joy.
God is not weary nor tired of well doing. He has not fainted. and neither should you or I. He has not forsaken us, nor forgotten us. May you be encouraged and strengthened as you wait for your restoration.