In World Wars I and II, when a young man enlisted in the army, he was taught how to fight hand-to-hand combat. He was taught how to shoot a rifle and use a bayonet. Some drove tanks or learned to fly planes and others were taught to operate communication equipment. These seemed to be the more important things. They were the exciting experiences of their training. Enlisted men could hardly wait to learn these thrilling parts of battle. Their feeling was “Just show me how to shoot and fight.” But victory didn’t begin with shooting, flying, and fighting.
The leaders took recently enlisted men out to a field, gave them a shovel, and instructed them to dig a trench. Then, when they finished digging, they were told to fill in the trenches they had just dug. The next day they would be taken out to the same field to dig a trench and then fill it in again. Day after day, week after week, digging and filling then digging and filling again. This did not seem the way to prepare for victory in battle. It was so mundane, monotonous, and routine. Anybody can do this; it’s just ditch digging.
However, when they arrived on the battlefield and there was nothing but open space between them and the crosshairs of enemy rifles, they found the importance of trench digging. Trenches were cut through battlefield fronts in Europe to protect troops from deadly artillery and machine-gun fire. Just behind the firing trenches were cover trenches which provided a second line of defense in case the enemy over-ran the firing trenches. Each was about six to eight feet deep. Off-duty troops lived in support trenches. Supplies, food, and fresh troops moved to the front through a network of reserve and communications trenches. Victory often rested on the side that could stay in the trenches the longest.
Perhaps one of the ever-present laws in God’s kingdom is: When it does not seem to work, when it seems to be monotonous, and when the results aren’t there, just keep digging those ditches and keep working for God because God is going to bring victory.
You’ll find over and over throughout scripture that God will bless, God will give spiritual results, and God will bring victory to those who stick with it and those who keep working. There may be no greater principle that I could share with you than this: the answer comes to those who are WILLING TO STAY WITH IT.
Could this be why the average tenure of a pastor is under five years? Could this be why the average tenure of a youth director is only two years, and the average tenure of a music director is only one year?
Could this be why the average church in America has approximately seventy people in its Sunday morning service? Maybe because those who move on, give up, or stop digging don’t understand that, when it slows down, when it appears useless, when it isn’t moving, just continue so that God can use what you’ve done for His glory!
Israel was in a drought with no water for their army or their horses and livestock. Their enemy was looming on the horizon. They asked the prophet Elisha to inquire of God about what to do. Listen to God’s answer in II Kings 3:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches”.
In verse 17, God continues, “Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain…”. Simply put, it’s going to seem like you are digging ditches for nothing. All the struggle is for naught. All the effort isn’t producing anything.
However, in the last part of verse 17, God promises, “…yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts”. In other words, you may not see the results you want to see when you think you should see them, but just keep digging because God is going to send the rain.Then, in verse 18, Elisha reminds Israel of the power of God, “And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD…” What God will do is not hard for Him; it’s a little thing. In the next few verses, Elisha reminds Israel that God will deliver their enemy into their hands. Of course, the outcome is that God filled the valley with water and defeated their enemy.
God was teaching them that in spite of what you see or don’t see, keep digging the ditches. God does not operate on our time schedule; He doesn’t wear a watch. He watches our commitment to the task. He wants to see if we will stay with it. Are you going to stick to it? Are you going to be faithful in it?
Your faith in God’s Word and your calling will make the difference in your progress in your work for God. You must constantly believe that great victories from God are just around the corner.
Nothing done by direction of God is ever useless in God's plan! No time is a waste of time if it is directed and orchestrated by God. I wonder how many people in the kingdom of God have stopped believing and stopped expecting just short of where God was going to move? I wonder how many lost their faithfulness, their passion, and their energy because they didn’t see the results when they thought they should have -- when in reality God was just about to fill the ditches they had dug.
You must remain, keep working, and stay faithful to the kingdom of God if you’re going to see the hand of God move.
MISSION LOUISIANA
As of April 22, 2024, we have given $1,074,752 to Mission Louisiana!
Thank You to all our pastors and congregations who have given to Mission Louisiana. Let’s continue to have faith in what God is doing on our Louisiana Campgrounds!