Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Doubts”
Our Bible verse for today: “So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Don’t let doubts stop you from doing what is right and good.”
I recently read the inspiring story of George and Martha Scarborough. George was a part-time Baptist preacher who, in July of 1870, believed God was calling him to move to west Texas to raise cattle and to preach the gospel to other ranchers.
George and Martha were very poor and had only a small piece of land and no money to build a house. Therefore their first home was little more than a dugout shelter in the side of a hill. Eventually they were able to build a small crude cabin. That’s where they lived for many years as they raised their only son, Lee, while George tended their few cattle and tried to share Jesus with others in the area.
George had little success at ranching or at preaching, but he hung in there. All the while he and Martha saved their money in hopes of one day building a large house on the hill overlooking their land. Finally, after 18 years, they had enough money to build the house. But Martha became convinced that God wanted them to spend that money instead to send their son Lee to Bible College. At first George was opposed. He had dreamed of that house for 18 long years, but in time he came to share his wife’s vision and the money was used instead to send Lee to college and then to seminary.
Long story short, George and Martha never did get to build that house. They lived in that crude little cabin for the rest of their lives. And George never won many ranchers to faith in Jesus either. But Lee went on to become a preacher and one of the most effective travelling evangelists in all of Texas. Then he became a writer, and then the President of a Seminary, and then a leader in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Later in life Lee became a successful businessman and ended up donating large sums of money to Bible Colleges, seminaries, churches, hospitals, and to international missions – and all because George and Martha never gave-up. Despite the long hard years, despite the doubts and the disappointments, despite the struggles and the sacrifices, they never gave-up.
And neither should you. As Paul tells us in Galatians 6:9, if you don’t give-up, if you hang in there doing good, doing the right thing, in due season you will reap what God has planned. Don’t let doubts stop you from doing what is right and good.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 