Doing God’s Work
“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime.†This statement by Reinhold Niebuhr reminds me of Dr. and Mrs. R.A. Forrest. They began their work over a hundred years ago, and it certainly wasn’t completed in their life time. In fact, it continues today in the hearts and minds of the students at Toccoa Falls College. Richard and Evelyn faithfully continued to obey God’s call and trusted in Him. They never gave up—no matter how hard the days were, dreary the circumstances, or impossible the future seemed. They were tested, but their faith remained. They knew their steps were ordered by God.
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.
“Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.
“When you search for me, you will find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile
“The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps. All our steps are ordered by the Lord; how then can we understand our own ways. Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.
“I know, O Lord, that they way of human beings is not in their control, that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
“I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
“I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 29:11-14; Proverbs 16:9; 20-24; Psalms 37:23-24; Jeremiah 10:23; 24:5-7, RSV†(from
The challenge is to remember that we may not see results for the work God has called us to do each day. We may not realize its significance in our lifetime. But like Richard and Evelyn Forrest, we need to be faithful and steadfast relying on God’s strength as we do His work.
(Taken from the online devotional Grace in The Wilderness © 2008 tfchistory.com)