Kerry Shook - Don't Lose Heart Before the Harvest!
Last week, we talked about how important it is to guard your heart and nourish your heart because the Bible tells us that everything you do in life flows out of your heart. Every outward action comes from an inward attitude in your heart. Every decision you make comes from the priorities that are in your heart. But so often, we only focus on trying to change what’s on the outside of our lives, and we neglect the heart. And when we neglect the heart, we start to lose heart.
So, this week, we’re going to look at how to nourish our hearts with hope so we don’t lose heart. I want us to look at a really short verse today: Galatians 6:9, where the Apostle Paul tells us how important it is not to lose heart. So would you stand in honor of God’s word? I want you guys to read this out loud with me. I know it’s the first service, but you should have been up a long time by now. Okay, you guys just walking in, that’s okay. I want you to read it out loud; don’t let me be the only one reading this. Okay, you’re going to read this out loud. Great! Okay, I know you are. You’re going to do so much better than the Saturday nighters. I know that! No, they did pretty good. For you to beat them, you’ve got to really do this great. So here we go! Are you ready? And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. You guys did great! Now you can cheer for yourself. Yeah, yeah! You can be seated as well. I was going to make you stand the rest of the service if you didn’t do it.
Focus on those words: lose heart. The Apostle Paul is saying, «Guard your heart against losing heart.» Now, losing heart just means losing hope. It means giving up. And this verse starts out by saying, «Don’t grow weary in doing good.» It means don’t grow weary in obeying God. He’s talking about when you’re following God with all your heart, obeying God, trusting God, and praying to God, but you’re not seeing God come through. Your prayers are going unanswered. You’re following Jesus with all your heart, but your problems are just getting worse.
And that’s when you start to lose heart. That’s when we start to lose hope and give up on God. And that’s what’s at the heart of losing heart -it’s giving up on God because you think He’s never going to come through. You stop putting your hope in God, you stop trusting Him, you stop obeying Him, and you stop praying. And Paul says, «Don’t you dare lose heart! Don’t dare lose hope in God just because it looks like He’s not coming through at the moment.» Why? Because of this powerful promise at the end of the verse. It says, «For at the right time, you’re going to reap a harvest of blessing if you don’t lose heart.» It’s a promise that God is going to come through. The season of harvest is coming! So keep planning, keep trusting, keep obeying, keep praying because you’re going to reap a harvest of blessing from God unless you lose heart and give up on God.
Here’s the big deal: if you lose heart, you lose the harvest! Did you get that? If you lose heart, you lose the harvest! That’s why the title of my message today is «Don’t lose heart before the harvest.» Don’t lose heart before the harvest! Don’t lose heart before the harvest! Now usually, when we feel like losing heart and we start to feel hopeless, it’s just a sign that the harvest is almost here. We have an enemy, Satan, who the Bible says his whole purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. So he wants to steal your harvest. He tries to steal your hope so he can steal your harvest. He wants you to lose heart because he fears a heart filled with hope. So when we feel the most hopeless, we need to realize that’s a signal from Satan. He’s giving himself away. That’s a signal from Satan that he knows the harvest is on the way, and he’s making his last stand to try to steal it.
Now, feeling like losing heart is not the same as losing heart. There will be many times in life where you’ll feel like losing heart. There will be many times in life where you start to feel hopeless. But your feelings are not your heart. Your heart is your center, your core, your internal will. That’s why you can’t lose heart unless you choose to lose heart. You lose heart when you let your feelings rule your heart. When you’re feeling hopeless, you can choose to hold on to hope in Christ, and your heart will start to fill with unexplainable hope. It’s a heart choice.
We all feel hopeless at times. Maybe you’re going through one of those times right now in your life. Maybe you feel hopeless in a job situation that you think is never going to change. Maybe you’re feeling a sense of hopelessness in your marriage. There’s a disconnection that keeps growing deeper, and you’re losing heart. Or maybe you feel hopeless and helpless to change a destructive habit that’s just tearing up your life and your family. Or you feel hopeless to change someone you really care about. They really need to change; they’re only hurting themselves, and it hurts your heart. Maybe you’re feeling hopeless about a circumstance or a problem in your life that you can’t seem to change. And no matter what you do, it just seems to get worse, and you’re starting to lose heart.
If you’re feeling a sense of hopelessness today and you’re starting to lose heart, I believe God wants to say to you through me: «Don’t lose heart before the harvest! Don’t lose heart before the harvest!» because it’s coming. You may feel hopeless, but the great news is you can still choose to place your hope in God’s heart. You can choose to keep trusting in the goodness of God, even when you can’t see anything good at the moment. So how in the world do I choose hope when I feel hopeless?
You see, this message is just for me. If you get something out of it, great! I needed this. I need this because so often when I start feeling a little hopeless in a situation, then I start to lose heart. Then I grumble and complain, and I don’t make that heart choice. So I don’t know about you; you probably never have that problem. You’re probably always so positive. No matter what happens in your life, it’s like, «Yay God! This is great! Praise God!» That’s probably you. You don’t need this message; you can leave. I need the message. So maybe you’ll get something out of it.
Now Paul and Silas show us exactly how to do that-how to choose, in a heart choice, not to lose heart and to hold on to hope. Paul and Silas were the first missionaries to Europe. As they went to Philippi, which is in modern-day Greece, they shared the good news of Christ, and because of it, they were beaten, put in chains, and thrown into prison. In Acts 16, we find them beaten and bruised, wearing shackles in a filthy jail cell, but they show us the secret to not losing heart before the harvest. Let’s look at it in Acts 16, and I want us to do a little study of this passage.
«About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God as the other prisoners listened. Suddenly, there was a strong earthquake that shook the foundation of the jail. Then all the doors of the jail broke open, and all the prisoners were freed from their chains. The jailer woke up and saw that the jail doors were open. Thinking that the prisoners had already escaped, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul shouted, 'Don’t harm yourself! We are all here.' The jailer told someone to bring a light. Then, he ran inside, and shaking with fear, fell down before Paul and Silas. He brought them outside and said, 'Men, what must I do to be saved? ' They said to him, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and all the people in your house.'»
Now focus on the first two words in that passage: «About midnight.» Paul and Silas had quite a day. I mean, it started at sunrise, and everything started out great in the morning. They woke up on a high; just a few days before, they’d shared the gospel with a woman named Lydia, and she and her family trusted Christ and became the first converts in Europe. Lydia then began to tell all her friends, and they were coming to Christ. So when Paul and Silas woke up that morning, they were filled with hope! In fact, they were going to an early morning Bible study. They were going to an early morning prayer meeting to pray with the new believers. But that was about 7:00 a.m. And now, it’s about midnight, and they’re not at a prayer meeting; they’re in a prison. They woke up to a sunny day filled with hope, but now it’s about midnight, and they’re in a dark and hopeless situation. They’re in a filthy jail cell, bleeding from being flogged and beaten. They’re in chains. It’s not sunrise anymore; it’s about midnight. And I know for some of you, it probably feels like it’s about midnight. You find yourself in a situation that feels hopeless, and you feel helpless to change it. It’s about midnight.
But really, midnight comes into all of our lives. You can’t avoid the midnight moments, but it’s what you do in the midnight moments of your life that will make you or break you. It’s what you do in the midnight moments of your life that will either cause you to lose heart or build faith. So let’s look at what Paul and Silas did in their midnight moment. In Acts 16:25, about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God as the other prisoners listened. They were singing praise songs in the prison. They were singing the song of hope from their hearts, even though they couldn’t hear one note of hope in their situation. They were singing the song of hope when they couldn’t hear the music of hope.
Now, I don’t think Paul and Silas were naive. I don’t think they were denying reality. I don’t think they were going, «This is amazing! We got beaten! We got thrown into prison! We’re in chains! I love it! This is so great! I just feel like singing! In fact, we could record an album! It’d be like Johnny Cash-an album in prison! How cool is that? That’ll be huge!» No, I don’t think they were feeling great about the situation they were in. In fact, I think they felt terrible pain. They must have felt waves of hopelessness. I think they probably felt like losing heart. I really do. I mean, they’re human beings just like us-ordinary, but they served an extraordinary God. So I don’t think they could hear or feel one note of hope, and yet, they chose to sing the song of hope anyway. It was a heart choice. They chose, in faith, to sing the song of hope to the God of hope.
In singing, they were saying, «God, we don’t understand what’s going on. We don’t feel great about it. It doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t make any sense to us. We feel like losing heart, but we choose to sing the song of hope because we trust in your goodness, and we know that you know what you’re doing. So we place all our hope in you, the God of hope, and we refuse to lose heart before the harvest that you’re going to bring.»
Now while Paul and Silas sang praise to God in the prison, it says the other prisoners listened. Now, I don’t know what the prisoners were talking about before Paul and Silas started singing, but everyone in the jail stopped talking and started listening. Paul and Silas' praise turned a prison cell into a church service. I mean, it turned a prison into a church. And praise can change a place. Praise will change your heart, but it can also change a place. Scripture tells us praise can change a jail into a place of joy. Do you know praise can change your home? It really can! That’s why you ought to play praise and worship music in your home. And don’t be afraid to speak a promise of praise to God in your home: «God, we praise you for your goodness today!» And if you’re a parent, you ought to let your kids hear you say those things.
Praise can change a place! Praise can change your home! Praise can change a house of despair into a house of hope. Praise can change a house of disharmony and disconnection into a house of deep connection. Praise can change a house of stress and anxiety into a house filled with peace. Praise can change a place! Praise can change a classroom or a school! Praise can change a workplace! I’m not talking about singing. It doesn’t mean you go around singing Woodland’s worship songs when you’re in a meeting at work or at school. If you do that, people will listen for a few seconds before they kick you out of the meeting. It just means you make a heart choice to have an attitude of praise instead of grumbling and griping and losing heart. You make a heart choice to trust God. And you thank God that even though you can’t see right now what He’s up to, God knows what He’s doing, and God will come through, and you don’t lose heart before the harvest!
You know, the Bible talks about thanksgiving and praise. It says you enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Now, thanksgiving is when you thank God for what He’s done for you, His blessings in your life. But praise is when you thank God not for what He’s done for you, but for who He is. Your praise comes from your heart, and you praise God for who He is-His attributes, His character. You praise Him that He’s powerful. You praise Him that He’s holy, that He’s faithful, that He is love, that He is good, that He is the provider. And you praise Him for who He is, no matter what you see Him doing in your life at the moment.
You know, when you thank God after He does something for you and He blesses you, that’s thanksgiving. And we’re supposed to do that. The Bible commands us to be grateful for all the things that God does for us. But when you praise God in advance, you praise Him for who He is. You praise God in the middle of the pain. When you praise God when you’re in a prison of hopelessness, when you praise Him anyway, that’s called faith. And without faith, it’s impossible to please God! And that’s the kind of faith that knocks down prison walls. That’s the kind of faith that breaks chains that hold you back. If I don’t want to lose heart before the harvest, I have to make a heart choice to praise God even when I feel hopeless.
And that’s what Paul and Silas did. They made the heart choice to sing praise to the God of hope. How were they able to sing the song of hope in a seemingly hopeless situation? Now you don’t need to know that because you guys are so positive all the time. You guys are so full of faith! You never have a doubt! You’re always singing praise songs. On the way to church today, your family was singing praise songs. No, that’s not true. I know that some of you were griping, and your kids were going nuts in the back seat, for those of you who have children. And then you got to God, and now you’re smiling! You got to church, you know, and smiling. You know, some of you won’t believe this, but Chris and I, there are times when we used to have arguments, you know, on the way to church, and we would have to forgive each other and ask God for forgiveness before we walked in the door.
There were times we were on our way to church; we were not singing great hymns to God or singing praise songs, but we were arguing, you know, and griping. But we don’t do that anymore because we go in separate cars! And so God has blessed that! God’s blessed that decision. It’s benefited our marriage! No, no, usually I mean we still go in the same car many times, and you know we just know now that if we start doing that, then that’s just the enemy trying to steal our hope and our harvest. So we really don’t do that. You know we want to seek the Lord and have our hearts in the right place so we don’t miss the harvest.
You see, the reason that Paul and Silas were able to really have that hope is because they were connected to the source of hope. They were well acquainted with the source of hope, Jesus Christ. They knew Christ! They had seen Him come through many times in their lives. They had placed all their hope in the song of hope. And the source of hope can only come from the song of hope. You can’t have a song of hope unless you’re connected to the source of hope. So the question is, what are you placing your hope in? What is the source of your hope? Are you placing your hope in your bank account, your stock portfolio? Are you placing your hope in another person, in a relationship? Are you placing your hope in your success or how many followers and how many likes you have? Are you placing your hope in what other people think of you, your reputation? Are you placing your hope in yourself, your talents, your abilities?
If you place your hope in anything that can change or be taken away at your midnight moment, you’ll be left without hope. At your midnight moment, you won’t have the hope it takes to make it through because there’s only one source of hope-the God of hope, Jesus Christ! But when you place a little bit of faith and hope you have in Jesus Christ, then you’re connected to the source of hope! And the song of hope can only come from the source of hope. That’s why the Apostle Paul said in Romans 15:13, look at it with me: «May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in Him, then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.»
May God, the source of hope; the source of hope is Jesus Christ. And when you place your hope in Christ rather than your circumstances, there’s no circumstance that can steal your song of hope! All the songs of stress, all the songs of pain, all the songs of heartbreak, all the songs of loss, all the songs of grief that come into our lives cannot take away your song of hope. With the source of hope, you can choose to sing the song of hope even when you can’t hear the music because the song of hope wells up in your heart from the source of hope-Jesus Christ!
Paul and Silas chose not to lose heart before the harvest. And the harvest came! Look at it with me in Acts 16:26. «Suddenly, there was a strong earthquake that shook the foundation of the jail. Then all the doors of the jail broke open, and all the prisoners were freed from their chains.» So God hears their song of praise and meets them in their prison of hopelessness with a powerful earthquake that rips open the prison doors and breaks their chains. See, praising ushers in the presence. Praising God ushers in the presence of God. Praising God ushers in the presence of God in the place that you’re at. Praising God ushers in the presence of God in your home. I’m not just talking about singing; I’m talking about a heart of praise.
When Chris and I were in college, every Sunday, we would drive about 30 miles outside of Waco to a tiny country church that didn’t have a pastor, and I would preach for them-some of the worst sermons I’m sure that were ever preached. I didn’t know what I was doing, but it was 15 really sweet elderly people that were very patient with us. But I remember the first Sunday we went out there, and I was really nervous. We got out there, and we meet them, and the first thing they asked me is, «Can you lead the worship, and can your wife play the piano for you?» I’m going, «No and no! I don’t do that! I’m not sure that I preach! So I’m not going to lead worship! You do not want me to lead worship!»
You know, when I tell you guys that I can’t sing, it’s not a gift that God gave me. Some of you think that I’m just being humble because I’ve got kids that are musicians and really talented. So it all came from Chris, believe me! And so I’m not being humble; I mean it’s just true; I can’t! You ever sat next to me? I mean I sing, and I make a joyful noise, but you go, «Wow, Carrie, you really can’t! I thought you were just saying that!» You know, I can’t! So I said no. You know, it freaked me out. I was like, «I can’t lead worship. I promise.» And then they said, «Well, I guess Lou Edith will have to do it again.» I go, «Yes! Get Lou Edith! You will be glad you got Lou Edith again!»
Well, the service starts, and this sweet elderly woman, Lou Edith, gets up there. She starts out the service, «Praise God from whom all blessings flow!» Exactly like that! Except I did a little better than she did that day! I mean we were just stunned! Chris and I were like, «Whoa!» And we looked at each other; I was like, «Wow, I’ve never heard anything like that, you know in all my church experience? I don’t know what that is!» You know, and she just kept going at it, and I mean I’m telling you I was awake and ready to preach after that! And but you know what happened-I mean at first, I said, «I’m not better than Lou.» You know I lied! But anyway, it’s like, «I’m not going to lead worship.» So, praise God for Lou Edith! Whatever it is that’s coming out of her mouth right now, you know!
But after a few weeks, after a few Sundays, Chris and I kind of got used to it. We didn’t think much of it, you know? It’s like I was just concentrating on the message and yeah, Lou Edith, you know, and we started singing along; it’s like we made our joyful noise! She did! And you just forgot kind of like that it was kind of different, you know? And then several months later, Chris’s family called, and they said, «Hey, we’re going to come up to Sunday service, you know, so we can hear Carrie preach, and we can spend some time with you guys!» And we were really excited! We went, «That’s amazing! That’s great! You know you guys don’t have to drive all this way, but thank you!» So her whole family came up, and they all sat on the second row and just filled up the whole row.
And then the service started, and Lou Edith got up there and started it out, «Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!» And by the way, the piano was out of key too! You know, it’s out of tune! And all of a sudden, I saw Chris’s dad start to shake on the second row, and I mean, man, the Holy Spirit’s got a hold of him today! You know it’s like-and then it started spreading down the row, and the whole row is shaking, you know? I mean, he was trying not to laugh! And you know, just man, just trying not to laugh! And when you try not to laugh, man, it just gets worse!
And that whole row was just shaking! Just shaking! I forgot to warn them about what was about to happen-the earthquake of praise that was about to hit them in the face! I just forgot all about it! And I thought, «Oh no!» You know, well, they pulled it together before the message at least! But I apologize-sorry! I didn’t warn you about what the awakening that was about to happen in your life before it hit! But you know, years later, I thought about that, and I thought, «Well really no one else wanted to do it. I didn’t want to lead praise! No one else wanted to do it!» And Lou Edith would get up there, and I would notice she was kind of nervous. And it was like she didn’t really want to be up there. But every Lou, you’re the one that does it! Come on! It’s like «Okay!» She would come up there; she’d give it everything she got, that’s for sure.
And I look back on that, and I think Jesus was pleased because at least she got up there and sang praise no matter what it sounded like. And I’m telling you God’s name will be praised! The song of hope will be sung! If no one else wants to sing it, God is going to make it happen! Because the Bible says if we as human beings didn’t praise God, if no one praised God, the rocks and the trees would cry out and praise God if we don’t! Because Jesus is the song of hope, and the song of hope will be sung. There’s nothing that can stand against it-not even the gates of hell can stand against the song of hope! He can break any chain and smash down any prison door!
There’s no prison of despair that can keep you from singing the song of hope! There’s no prison of pain that can stop you from singing the song of hope! There’s no prison of anxiety and uncertainty that can stop you from singing the song of hope! There’s no prison of depression that can keep you from singing the song of hope! The song of hope will be sung! There’s no prison of loss that can keep you from singing the song of hope because it comes from the source of hope filling your heart! If you’re a Christ follower, you have the song of hope in you; you just got to sing the song of hope! And I’m not talking about just music; I’m talking about in your heart, in your life.
Look at Acts 16:27. «The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.» So the jailer was knocked out because of the earthquake. He wakes up, he sees the prison doors open, and he sees the door of his life about to close because the punishment for letting prisoners escape on your watch was torture and death. So, he took matters into his own hands. He was about to kill himself with his own sword. He had lost all hope in an instant. He felt like there’s no hope. And to prevent a torturous death and to prevent the shame of his failure, he’s just going to end it all. You know, it’s our failures that many times cause us to lose heart. It’s our failures that lock us into a cell of shame.
But it’s our failures where God can do His greatest work in our lives. Failure is never final with God. In fact, it’s failure that forces us to realize how much we need Christ and His grace. Without failures, we would never know how much we need Him! We would never experience the whole reason we were created: to have that love relationship with Him! But many times we try to run from our shame. But all we have to do is face it and take our failure, sins, and shame to Him. And then we can sing the song of hope that only comes from His undeserved forgiveness, and the prison cell of shame crumbles in an earthquake of His grace.
The Philippian jailer lost heart in his midnight moment because he didn’t know the source of hope. He was about to end it all. That’s hopelessness. And then Paul and Silas, out of the darkness, said, «Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!» And everything changed! And I want to say to someone out there today who feels like there’s no hope-that there’s no future. You feel like your life is over.
I want to say to you today: Don’t harm yourself; we are all here for you. Don’t harm yourself; we are all here! Our church is here for you! God loves you; our church loves you; we are all here for you! All you got to do is just tell someone what you’re going through. Tell one of our volunteers. Tell one of our pastors what you’re going through. We love you! We have a counseling ministry that’s amazing! Just come see our — one of our counselors! And God does something when you begin to tell people, when you begin to admit that helplessness and hopelessness that you feel.
We all feel hopeless at times that Jesus Christ says to you, «Don’t hurt yourself! I am here! I’m here for you! You’re not forgotten, and I will never forget you.» And then, Lord, I just pray for every one of us who need an answer to a prayer that you in your name, Jesus, would answer that prayer. Sometimes it’ll be different from what we think we need, but it’ll always be exactly what we need. Sometimes, Lord, the answer is not «no,» but it’s just «not yet» because You’re teaching us to make a heart choice to trust You, and it builds our faith. Lord, I thank you the harvest is coming, and I pray especially for those who are feeling so discouraged. Help them realize it’s a signal from Satan that the harvest is right there! The harvest is almost here, and the enemy just wants to steal away their hope-steal the harvest! Don’t let him! In Your name, Jesus!
And I pray for those who have never received You, source of hope, that right now in this moment, wherever they are, they would pray this prayer and just repeat it after me, just pray it silently to You, Jesus Christ, that they would say, «Dear Jesus Christ, I need You! I’ve tried to find my source of hope in so many things that have left me hopeless. So I place the little bit of hope and faith I have totally in You, Jesus Christ, to save me. Come into my life with Your Holy Spirit and change me from the inside out. I accept Your free gift of salvation and Your free gift of heaven one day. I pray that You’d be the Lord of my life from now on.» God of hope, help me grow in my faith for it’s in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.