There is no doubt that the end of this age is nearing. With the fake pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns that sprouted from lies and deception, there came a release spurred on by Satan to attack Christians. I’m not saying they are dragging us into the streets and beating us, but they are flagrantly marginalizing us and doing so more openly now in the U.S.

I am not, nor do I need to, review the way the world is acting towards us because we have all heard it, and many have felt the oppression, pressure of evil, and the world against us. What I want to remind and encourage all to do is to find gratefulness in God, even in these trying times where we are targets of evil and hate just for our belief in the Triune God.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Some believers do not heed what the above verse tells them to do. Instead, and let’s be honest here, some believers whine and complain when circumstances are not in their favor. These believers may be new to the faith or long-time followers. It doesn’t matter. Regardless of new or seasoned believers, many only find gratitude in the good times but not the rough times.

When things get rough in life, as they are getting and growing now, it is not the time to turn your back on God. No, it is the perfect time to have gratitude for the things God has done, is doing, and will do. Basically, it is a mindset one needs to have.

When we approach God with our concerns, we need to be prepared to give thanks regardless of what God allows to happen or changes in our journey in this horrid and falling world. Just because we do not get what we want does not mean He does not deserve our gratitude. He does now and always because without Him, we would not exist.

When God positively answers a prayer, how often do we just go with it and forget who answered our prayers without a thought of gratitude? How easy is it to forget who the God of the universe is when we get what we want. And when we do not get what we want, a lot of folks start the blame game.

Who gets blamed? A lot of folks blame God and have not even a drop of gratitude towards Him when a prayer goes unanswered. Animosity towards God grows, and in no time at all, there is no more time in prayer, and there is more dust settling on the cover of the Bible.

But come on, there is so much to be grateful for. I’m not going to list them, but I encourage you to think about them before you pray and ask God for help. Think of His promises and encouragement found in the Bible, for example, and how they relate to you.

I think one thing that we get hung up on that affects our gratitude is listening to those of the world. We live in a society where failure is not our fault but someone else’s, or if we accomplish something, it is by our own power and not by the help of others. And God? He is background noise and more of a last-ditch course of action when all else fails.

When we practice gratitude towards God, we will grow. It would be contrary to God if the opposite happened, so practicing something as simple as gratitude for everything in our lives will lead to a better sanctifying walk with Him.

The more practice of gratitude that occurs, the more we realize how intertwined God is in our lives and how blessed we truly are, even in the middle of trials.

I am recovering from cancer. It was discovered, and I am still dealing with it since April of this year. I made the conscious effort not to be angry at God for this but to give thanks in everything each day since.

Something about having my mortality realized in this way really put things in perspective. The little things that used to irk me before cancer do not seem as important now. Finding gratitude in the things I have – family, shelter, income, etc. – is so much more recognizable and grateful for because I know they are from God.

What is more paramount to me now is my relationship with God. Not a superficial one but a deeper and more sanctifying one than before cancer. Whether my cancer goes in remission until the rapture or I’m taken home before then, I am grateful to God for all I have and all I have done.

The point is, God is gracious enough to give us time in these last days. As we navigate through each day with the challenges and blessings that may cross our paths, are we putting forth the effort to give thanks and be grateful to God for the big and little things in our lives? Or are we just living?

johnflysaught@gmail.com

I experienced all kinds of weather playing eight years of high school and college football in Wisconsin—from the burning heat of August to the frigid cold of November. I only remember one snowfall, during a practice in my last season in college. But I remember rain—lots and lots of rain and especially lots of mud.

Easily the most memorable game in which I played took place at Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn. ^[i] in my senior year at Maranatha. ^[ii] Rain fell throughout the day, and we came up short in a second-half comeback in what felt like ankle-deep mud—although we ended up tying Northwestern for the conference championship.

I always liked to play in the mud. For one thing, it neutralized everyone’s speed, which was great for a guy like me—the slowest player on the field!

But do you know who feels the worst of all the players leaving a muddy field? It’s not the guys who suffered injuries—which, I understand, are usually fewer in bad-weather games. It’s not the guys with mud everywhere inside and outside of their uniforms. No—it’s the guys with the clean, white uniforms. They didn’t get to feel like they contributed or even had any fun. For the sake of the team, they just got soaked in the rain.

And that lesson, to me, is directly applicable to ministry. I want to be the muddiest player on the proverbial field. I want to need my uniform to be washed—burned, if necessary. I don’t want to leave my field of service with a clean jersey.

I often enjoy the preaching of another former football player, Dr. Steven Lawson. Commenting on the reality “that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58), Lawson stated regarding the word labor:

This word means labor to the point of exhaustion. It means to give to the point that you have nothing left to give. I used to play football, and I can remember a couple of little scenes, in my little football past, of just literally being carried off the field. I mean, you just have nothing left to give—you’ve just left it all on the field. ^[iii]

I must confess that I have some regrets from my football career. I have some regrets from my academic career. But going forward, I desire to have no regrets from my service for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. I want to leave it all on the field.

Being in a support-raising ministry for the first time has altered my outlook in this regard. It strikes me that I have a duty to work harder than anyone who supports me financially.

But I also want to get better—to do better the next time I preach, teach, write, speak … than the last time. With God’s help, through prayer, I want to progress in knowledge, wisdom, ability and skill.

In an itinerant ministry, I often present the same sermon multiple times. I never want that to become mechanical. Even if the message is familiar to me, it is new to my hearers—and that unique moment will never happen again. It deserves my best effort.

I need to accomplish more, utilizing all the tools at my disposal in this age of information and technology. We have more resources than God’s people have ever had, and we will be accountable for how we have used them and what we have achieved. He has called us all to be spiritual athletes (2 Tim. 2:5), not spectators.

A Baptist preacher named Palmer Hartsough evidently felt a similar sense of conviction more than a century ago when he wrote the words of this beloved gospel song:

I am resolved no longer to linger,
charmed by the world’s delight;
things that are higher, things that are nobler,
these have allured my sight. ^[iv]

But there is an added dimension in our time. I believe with all my heart that we are witnessing God at work in setting the stage for the future fulfillment of Biblical prophecy in the coming tribulation. We are seeing amazing things of Biblical and prophetic significance happening right before our very eyes!

Let me be clear: I do not believe in date-setting for the Lord’s return. But I do advocate for wise time-using for each of us as His servants.

So, what if these really are the closing days of the church age? How could we begin to calculate the magnitude of the responsibility that we would have—the stewardship that would be ours, for which we “will give an account” (1 Pet. 4:5)—if God has given us the privilege and responsibility of being His representatives in the church, to the world, “for such a time as this?” (Esth. 4:14).

These Biblical realities call for an unusual level of commitment in response. Indeed, they call for some good old-fashioned resolution:

I am resolved, and who will go with me?
Come, friends, without delay;
taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,
we’ll walk the heavenly way. ^[v]

Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Columbus, WI, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

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[i] Now, the University of Northwestern.

[ii] Maranatha Baptist Bible College—now Maranatha Baptist University—in Watertown, Wis.

[iii] Steven J. Lawson; “Encouragement at 2015 Staff Christmas Dinner”; SermonAudio Classics; Dec. 14, 2015; https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1221152321133; Internet; accessed 8 September 2022.

[iv] Palmer Hartsough; “I Am Resolved.” Public domain. Taken from “I Am Resolved;” Hymnary.org; n.d.; https://hymnary.org/text/i_am_resolved_no_longer_to_linger; Internet; accessed 8 September 2022.

[v] Ibid.