“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” I Corinthians 15:58
When younger, I spent many summers in an off-grid cabin in Maine. What an exciting place for an adventure-seeking and curious child it was.
One day, I remember hearing an unfamiliar sound of a distant chainsaw. As those tools were not common in the ’60s, I wanted to know who was sawing and where it was happening.
Trekking up a forested hill and following barely used logging roads, I found the source of the noise; it was a flannel-shirted, hardworking lumberjack.
As he cut down the towering pines and firs, he stripped the fallen trees of their branches and fetched his “helper” to pull them to where the pulp wood would be cut and stacked.
After disappearing briefly, he returned with an amazingly large workhorse. After leading the animal to the fallen trees, a couple of shouted commands got the creature to back up to the logs, where chains and a harness hitched the beast to his next timber task.
More commands were given, and the creature hauled his wood load behind him. In places, the ground was spongy with rotten debris, cedar roots, and old stumps. However, the obstacles did not hinder the trudging beast.
If one of the massive logs he lugged was snagged on an old trunk, the horse powered through the obstacle and often even pulled the stump out of the ground. The horse and his task were unstoppable, and the animal plodded on.
Sometimes the mushy ground gave way to the over 1,000-pound animal, and his hoofs sunk deep into the soft tangle of roots and branches, but still, onward he labored.
There were places the ground was harder and less cluttered with obstacles. Still, the beast lumbered on with his load at the same speed he held when on marshy, soft ground. No matter what was encountered, the “worker” consistently trudged on delivering his load. Nothing seemed to deviate him from His task.
Christians should model their service to the Saviour with the same consistent work ethic as that workhorse. There will be hindrances and obstacles while serving the Lord. Sometimes they will be occurrences in a believer’s life or even health trials. However, an obedient worker must trudge on when possible and complete the task they were convicted to do.
Preacher, if God called you to the ministry to lead and educate a flock of believers, continue at the task despite the opposition you may be facing. Plod on.
Plod: To walk or study heavily, steadily, and laboriously
Sunday school teacher, bus ministry worker, deaf interpreter, or whatever task you felt led to be involved in, keep on keeping on! Do not let criticism, ungratefulness, or even unruly children halt you from your responsibility. Plod on.
Serving the Saviour is not an easy task. Perhaps that is why so many’s efforts to serve the Lord are short-lived. There are, unfortunately, more quitters than those “plodding on” through the turbulences and trials.
If God called you to do a task for Him, continue until you are convicted and convinced He desires you to stop. Plod on!
“Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace through those difficulties.” — C. S. Lewis
