It seemed futile. Every week Steve and I were going and setting up a business meeting. Every week maybe one or two would show up, but for three weeks in a row nobody came. We spent the time studying the products and praying about what direction we should go. Our mantra to each other was “we will do everything with excellence for the Lord and not despise small beginnings.” 

Then one week, we set up as usual. Again, not one person was coming in the door…until just before starting time the door opened and a couple came in. The gentleman was a regional director for the business. We had the privilege of an hour of one on one mentorship with one of the top producers for the company. Then there was a weekend meeting and Steve and I did what we normally do and set up for the meeting and had everything organized. The regional director was the speaker. Steve and I said ‘hello’ but focused on having the meeting run smoothly and listening to the information being presented. 

A few days later, we received a phone call from the gentleman asking us to be a part of his team. It was not because we were the top producers or the people with the most tenure in the company or in the highest position, it was because by serving with excellence our gift made room for us and brought us before the leaders.

So many times we feel like the Lord gives us an assignment, but when things seem to fizzle out or seem like they aren’t going anywhere, we set it to the side and move on to something more appealing. We forget that God doesn’t necessarily look at the process like we do. He already knows what the end will produce. He’s not concerned with that. God is looking at our faithfulness even when we don’t see the outcome.

Ten years ago, God gave us a specific assignment. Very few people knew about it or even understood it. To many people it looked like our ministry was shutting down. All they could see was that we were no longer having live meetings. But behind the scenes, the assignment continued to advance. My only goal became to finish the assignment well. It no longer mattered what people thought because the Lord had shown us the end results. Hebrews 12:2 became real to us. Jesus endured all things because of the joy that was set before him. We learned to look at the end instead of the process.

The process is not easy. It sometimes seems lonely, futile or even impossible. But we need to learn that even though there is a reward at the end of the assignment, the best reward is knowing we have been faithful even to finishing well.