A Night’s Vision – Day 4

So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. – Acts 18:11

This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. - Acts 19:10

So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. - Acts 20:31


Paul was no fly-by-night preacher. He knew that in order to have an effective ministry, he couldn’t just preach a sermon and expect that to fix all the problems. So he stayed in certain towns for months and even years. But the real fruits of his labors were the churches that lasted for decades and centuries. Sometimes the hard part of ministry is sticking with it. The temptation to quit may not come from a physical threat, but with the day-to-day exhaustion of keeping up. The courageous thing is to keep going. And courage sometimes means refusing to quit and seeing God’s will through to the end.

Have you ever just wanted to quit being faithful?

How can the results of Paul’s ministry encourage you to persevere?

Ask God for strength to continue when you have no strength left.