Faithfully Serving - Visible Impact Not Guaranteed
by Pastor Ron Miyake
Colossians 3:23-24
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Have you ever been involved in serving the Lord and were not sure if what you did had an impact or not?
When I think about serving the Lord, I try to remember what it says in Colossians 3:23-24. This passage reminds me that whatever I do, to do it for the Lord. To stay obedient to what He has called me to do even if I don’t see visible results or impact.
Recently I was reminded of a friend of mine named Bill Saito, who around three years ago, went home to be with the Lord. I saw this passage of Scripture exemplified in Bill.
I didn’t grow up in a Christian home and rarely went to church. If I did go, I went very reluctantly. But in the summer between my 8th and 9th grade years of school, for some reason (probably to meet girls), some friends and I went to the local church. We ended up in the 8th grade boys Sunday School class where Bill was the teacher. At the time, I didn’t know much about God or the Bible. I thought the Bible was nothing more than a bunch of old stories that had nothing to do with me. All that changed when I met Bill. He was a high school teacher, a football coach, and an actor who appeared on TV. So I saw him as a pretty cool guy.
When Bill taught us about God and the Bible, he also made it relatable and relevant. He told us about Christians who lived their lives for God. Even now, I remember Bill telling us about Stan Smith (one of the top tennis players at that time) and Dag Hammarskjöld (former Secretary General of the United Nations) who were Christians.
At the time, I never told Bill how much what he taught had an impact on me. But I think Bill was just doing what he felt the Lord was leading him to do.
Over 30 years later, as I was sharing at a prayer gathering of different churches, I saw Bill sitting amongst the people. I was able to share with the people, and with Bill sitting there, how much he had this impact on my life that he probably didn’t even know.
Being faithful and obedient to what the Lord called him to do whether he saw results or not. That’s one thing I learned from Bill. I hope we can all serve God in the same way.