Wise, But Worn

Many have likely been keeping up with my daily posts on Facebook regarding the training this week. This training is the first attempt to train pastors there over the internet through our new organization – Pastor Training Community. As I mentioned last week, the training opportunity arose very quickly although the planning has been in stages for months (and was set for May during my trip there in January). But the rains and flooding have postponed it, and then with all of the added burden the people of Kenya have right now, many would not have been able to attend with the financial support we requested and received.

So, thank you again to all who donated. We did reach the goal of $700 and surpassed it by almost $100.

The training has been going well, but given the eight-hour difference in time, I have been training them from 1 am to 9 am CT here in the US. Given my usual responsibilities during the week and a funeral yesterday, my sleep has been disrupted greatly and, in fact, I was not able to answer the bell for the last two hours of scheduled training today. That is, at 7 am, I had to rest, so one of the pastors who is also serving as a translator did the teaching for the last two hours.

And that is a direct tie-in to last week’s sermon. On Sunday, I preached about the wise and foolish builders from Matthew 7.24-27. Jesus said those who hear and do are wise and those who hear and don’t do are fools. But what He doesn’t say is that those who do will do perfectly all the time. This week, I have been doing what I know God has asked me to do. I have been doing it to the best of my ability. And, without a doubt, I have been doing it in His strength (Colossians 1.29). But this morning, my strength ran out. That was not God’s fault, it is my lack of sleep this week. Just because we rely on God’s strength does not mean that we are invincible. I have tried to rest as often as I can, but although I have laid down, I have not always been able to sleep (day or evening). And, thus, after almost four full days of training, I was worn out. And so, I was not able to finish this morning’s training.

But tomorrow is a new day. And my day today has less overall responsibilities, even though what I have scheduled is important (sermon preparation, primarily). But taking the extra couple of hours this morning has given me more rest today and should allow me to finish strong overnight tonight. But, to truly be wise, I must apply what I have learned. As I have said many times (because it is my number one mantra in life), “When we stop learning, we start dying.” But learning is more that just taking in information; rather, it is about processing that information and doing something with it. That is wisdom. And that is what Jesus was saying nearly 2000 years ago as He concluded His message on the mountain. Many people may hear, but only the wise will do.

So, this week, I believe I have been wise because I have done what God began to lay on my heart nearly two years ago. I believe I have been wise because the plans we have made over the past many months have now come to fruition in Kenya and are being scheduled for Honduras. But, if I am truly wise, I cannot stop doing what He has commanded now. No, I must continue to do “these words of mine” (as Jesus said), for as long as I shall live. Doing so may make me tired, and may wear me out at times, but it is the only way I will hear the words I desire to hear someday – “Well done, good and faithful servant.” If I hear those words, I know, I will indeed have been wise – not in my eyes, but in the eyes of the only One who truly matters, the eyes of Jesus.