Rev. P. L. Tan tells how God taught him to be faithful in the ministry, no matter what.

"When I entered Baptist College, Springfield, Missouri, I was a typical first-year student, searching for answers to questions. I was not settled on what I was going to do. During that year something happened that was to change my life. I asked for a Sunday School class at the High Street Baptist Church and was given a little area with a curtain around it, a class book, and one eleven- year- old boy. I taught this boy for three or four weeks, until he finally brought a friend. I got so discouraged I went to the superintendent with the intention of giving up the class. He told me, 'I didn’t want to give you the class when you asked, because my better judgment told me you were not serious and dedicated. I don't think you will make it in the ministry, but I went against my judgement and gave you the class.' He finished by saying, 'I was right in my first judgment— you’re worthless, so give me the book.'

"This made me so angry I told him I would not give him the book and I’d consider the class and pray about it. I went back to my dormitory room and began praying. I asked the dean of students for a key to an empty room on the third floor, and each afternoon for a week I went and prayed from half past one until five o’clock. God broke my heart over my failure with the small Sunday School class. I realized if I wasn’t going to be faithful in little things, God would never bless me in big things. I prayed for the first boy and his family, and the boy he had brought and his family. Next I prayed for myself and my own needs, asking God to lead me to the right place.

"God blessed the class, and new kids began to come. I prayed for them and their friends. On Saturday I cut a path across every playground and empty lot I could find, seeking other junior-high boys. When I left school in May of that year the Lord had given me fifty-six boys for my class. All had made a profession of faith as well as many of their mothers, dads, and friends."

Friend, are you discouraged in your ministry? Don’t give up. God will bring a harvest in due time. Little is much when God is in it. Eternal fruit is being produced, even if it is in just one soul.

"It's awesome to realize today was in God's mind and plan long before this earth was created. He knew you would be where you are at this very moment, living in your present circumstances, facing the kind of pressures you're enduring . . . and experiencing this moment of quiet reflection. Bow and thank Him. Turn over the controls of your life to Him. Admit your weakness, your hypocrisy, your tendency to worry, your deep need of His presence and counsel in your life. Take a few minutes right now to become completely preoccupied with Him . . . Who has lovingly brought you to your knees." 

Who cannot be bought;
Whose word is their bond;
Who put character above wealth;
Who possess opinions and a will;
Who are larger than their vocations;
Who do not hesitate to take chances;
Who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;
Who will be as honest in small things as in great things;
Who will make no compromise with wrong;
Whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;
Who will not say they do it "because everybody else does it";
Who are true to their friends through good report and evil
report in adversity as well as in prosperity;
Who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and
hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning success;
Who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular;
Who can say "no" with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says "yes."

Doth not all nature around me praise God? If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe. Doth not the thunder praise Him as it rolls like drums in the march of the God of armies? Do not the mountains praise Him when the woods upon their summits wave in adoration? Does not the lightning write His name in letters of fire? Hath not the whole earth a voice? And shall I, can I, silent be? 

Hast thou been hungry, child of Mine?
I, too, have needed bread;
For forty days I tasted naught
Till by the angels fed.
Hast thou been thirsty? On the cross
I suffered thirst for thee;
I've promised to supply thy need,
My child, come unto Me.
Perhaps thy way is weary oft,
Thy feet grow tired and lame;
I wearied when I reached the well,
I suffered just the same;
And when I bore the heavy cross
I fainted 'neath the load;
And so I've promised rest to all
Who walk the weary road.
Doth Satan sometimes buffet thee,
And tempt thy soul to sin?
Do faith and hope and love grow weak?
Are doubts and fears within?
Remember I was tempted thrice
By this same foe of thine;
But he could not resist the Word
Nor conquer pow'r divine.
When thou art sad and tears fall fast
My heart goes out to thee,
For I wept o'er Jerusalem—
The place so dear to Me;
And when I came to Lazarus' tomb
I wept—my heart was sore;
I'll comfort thee when thou dost weep,
Till sorrows all are o'er.
Do hearts prove false when thine is true?
I know the bitter dart;
I was betrayed by one I loved—
I died with broken heart;
I loved My own, they loved Me not,
My heart was lonely, too;
I'll never leave thee, child of Mine,
My loving heart is true.
Art thou discouraged in thy work?
Doth ministry seem vain?
I ministered midst unbelief,
Midst those with greed of gain;
They would not hearken to My voice,
But scoffed with one accord;
Your labor never is in vain
If done unto the Lord.
Have courage, then, My faithful one,
I suffered all the way,
Thy sensitive and loving heart
I understand today;
Whate'er thy grief, whate'er thy care,
Just bring it unto Me;
Yea, in thy day of trouble, call,
I will deliver thee.

A minister told about seeing a little boy traveling alone on the train. The ride was long but the lad patiently sat looking out the window. "Aren't you tired and hungry?" the man asked the child as the train moved slowly from one station to another. "Oh, no, sir," the child replied. And then he smiled, "My daddy is waiting for me at the end of the line."

Our dear Lord, likewise, is waiting for us, His children, to come home.