First Baptist Church of Highland Park

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: Hi, I'm Henry Davis, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. A Bible-believing, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led congregation. I want to welcome you to our radio broadcast. And remember, there's power at the park.

We stand if we can as we honor the word of the Lord and turning our attention to the New Testament, Paul's letter to the church at Galatia. Galatians chapter six is most specifically where we turn our attention. And as we turn there to the sixth chapter of Galatians, we peel our eyes down to a familiar verse of scripture, and that is verse number nine, Galatians 6:9. Many of you know it, whatever version you might have it memorized in.

I read from the New Living Translation. So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Hallelujah. You can go to your seats around the building as we share in this time together. The reality of it is that God knows everything that we face, everything that we deal with. Nothing too hard, nothing too heavy, nothing too difficult.

No matter what winds come our way, no matter what challenges we have to look at, we realize that God has the ability to bring us through. And that is, again, the reason why we gather even in this time together as we celebrate a God who knows everything that we're facing, everything that we've had to deal with, every challenge that we have encountered, every difficult moment. Even moments when you thought that you might want to give up, God still met us.

He's always in the way of meeting us, meeting us where we are. He's never late, always on time. And we understand that's the reality of a God who loves us so much that he can be concerned about everything that we're doing. I title this message: You're Still In It. You're still in it. You're still in it. You don't have to worry about it. You can understand you're still in it.

We'll describe what "it" is. There is a particular kind of tired. Not the kind that sleep can fix, not the kind that a day off can solve, but the kind that settles down in your spirit. It's the kind of tired that whispers, "Maybe it's not worth it. Maybe nothing is changing. Maybe I should stop trying." And if we're honest this morning, some of us walked in here like that today.

Still praying, but tired. Still showing up, but tired. Still believing, but tired. And yet here we are, which means the title is already true even before I preach it. You're still in it. You didn't quit. You didn't walk away. You didn't throw in the towel. And Paul writes to a church that feels the same pressure and says, "Don't get tired now." Because weariness is real. Weariness is real, but it's not final.

Paul is writing to the Galatian church, a people trying to live right in a culture pulling them wrong. That's the same society we deal with today. We try to live right in a culture that wants to pull you wrong. They're doing good, but they're not seeing results. They're sowing seeds, but they haven't reaped yet. And Paul says, "Don't confuse delay with denial." There are three areas we want to look at in this early morning worship experience.

Number one: Weariness is real, but it's not final. Somebody ought to be able to shout right there. I know that weariness is real. I feel it. Many of us trying to figure out how can I have more energy? Is it coffee in the morning? Starbucks? 7-Eleven? Is it my Red Bull? Whatever the energy drink is. But we realize that weariness is real.

Secondly, we're going to look in this worship experience that God's timing is different from yours. I know we don't always understand God, and it's not even our reality to understand God, but we do have to trust him. Matter of fact, trust and obey because it is the only way. We realize that is where we need to be.

Thirdly in this message, your harvest is connected to your endurance. Your harvest is connected to your endurance. Yesterday in this region, in Washington, DC, was the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. The Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, one of our persons—matter of fact, the brother in the yellow shirt who's sitting behind that camera—finished the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on yesterday. 13.1 miles.

I know you're looking, trying to figure out was I there? No, I wasn't. I didn't have time. I'll see you all at the 5K in May. The 5K in May. You can sign up outside right after this service for the 5K in May on Mother's Day weekend. I ran into one of our senators the other day and he said, "You still running?" I said, "Well, my motto is every day at least a 5K."

And so that's only about 3.1 miles. But we realize that that is our reality. Weariness is something that we will have to face and overcome. Overcome. I need you to know that I'm a napper. I love taking a nap. I can take a nap anywhere. It's not difficult for me. Just get me a chair. And matter of fact, I don't even really need a chair. I have learned to nap even in a standing position.

I mastered that in one of my summer jobs growing up. I knew how to anchor myself against a tree and lean. All I'd have to have is some sunglasses on and you think I'm awake, but I'm taking a nap because I don't need a long nap. Give me two minutes, three minutes, and then I am totally refreshed. Let me come back to point number one: Weariness is real, but it's not final.

Paul says, "Let's not get tired." The word tired means to lose heart, to grow faint in spirit, to feel like giving up. So the Bible is honest. Even faithful people get fatigued. I know this room is filled, Medina and Melissa, I know this room is filled with faithful people. But no matter, you realize you can get fatigued. You can get tired. Matter of fact, some folk sometimes try to ask me about my week. I say you don't want to know about my week because if I start telling you about my week, you're going to get tired.

But you have to understand that even during this season of Lent is a season of sacrifice, reflection, and discipline. We get ready, drawing into next weekend of palms being dispersed in this congregation. And anytime you deny your flesh, anytime you press deeper spiritually, weariness will show up. Let me let you know that when you deny your flesh, weariness can show up.

Jesus in the garden said, "My soul is overwhelmed." If Jesus felt it, you will feel it. Think about a Harriet Tubman. She kept going back through danger, through exhaustion, through fear. Not because she wasn't tired, but because she refused to let tired be the end of her story. I've got to tell somebody that you can't allow tired to be the end of your story. God is not through with you yet.

And so you need to tell somebody, and you can look at them right now: Tired doesn't mean finished. I might be tired, but I'm still going to press on. I might be backed up against a wall, but I'm not going to give up. When I think about the goodness of Jesus and all he's done for me! You can be tired, but I'm still trusting you, God. You can feel like stopping, but you still keep going.

Thanks be to God that other folk don't have to know what it is you are facing. You've got to understand we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. It's not my strength, but it's the strength of God. It's something on the inside working on the outside, and you know that there is a marvelous change that has come over my life. That leads me to my second point, and it is God's timing is different from yours.

Paul says in Galatians 6:9, "At just the right time." That phrase: in God's appointed season, not your preferred schedule. I know you have a preferred schedule. You want God to work on your timetable. But God was there before you ever showed up. And that's why you've got to understand he doesn't need our advice. We need his advice. "Lord, guide my feet while I run this race because I don't want my running to be in vain."

You realize we live by clocks, but God moves by seasons. And seasons don't always look like progress. There's a season where nothing seems to be happening, but everything is developing. Joseph had a dream but had to go through a pit, a prison, and a process. He had to go through a pit, a prison, and a process. Sometimes you can have a dream, but before I get to that dream, I've got to go through the pit and the prison and the process.

But I thank God that God will show up. And anytime God shows up, I feel somebody in the room this morning or listening online, and you know that we serve an on-time God. And that's why you prayed a prayer and God showed up. You prayed for your child and God showed up. You prayed about that health diagnosis and God showed up!

David was anointed king but had to wait years before the crown showed up. We want Amazon Prime blessings, but God operates in agricultural seasons. You plant, you wait, you water, you trust. I'm trusting you, God. Sojourner Truth, she spoke truth for years before society ever changed. She stood when nobody was listening yet.

But her right time still came. Do I have a witness? God is not late. He's lining up. He's lining things up. He's setting it up. He's setting it up. He's setting it up. He knows how to set that thing up. You know a great chess player is multiple moves ahead. He knows where he is trying to steer you on this journey. And I thank God that God can see further than you can.

He can see around every corner. He can see beyond every situation. No matter how deep I might fall, God can show up. Somebody in the room this morning or listening online, and you know that we serve an on-time God. And that's why they used to say, "Yes, he is." I thank you, God, that you can fight my battles. I thank you, God, that you can lift me up.

I thank you, God, that you can throw your arms around me. I got a whole lot to praise God for! God! Not late. He's lining it up. Delay is not denial. Sometimes delay is divine development. I am divinely developing you because some things I can't handle at certain points in my life. God has to mature you. God's got to grow you up because you couldn't handle it.

You can't give a set of car keys to a six-year-old. You've got to let that child grow up into that thing. And I thank God that even from a spiritual perspective, some things we've got to grow up to. But God also, the Bible said God will not put any more on you than you can bear. Somebody in here says it's too hard, it's too heavy, it's too difficult.

But I'm telling you right now, look to the hills from whence comes your help! Because my help comes from the Lord. I wish I had a witness here this morning. I'm looking to him, author and finisher of my faith. That brings me to my third point. Your harvest is connected to your endurance. That's one of the great lessons. I'm sorry, Joel, I thought that was you behind the camera. It's Jamil. I gave Jamil credit for running a marathon.

It wasn't Jamil. It was Joel that did the running. But I've learned a whole lot of lessons running marathons. And one of the lessons you learn is about endurance. You learn about endurance. You understand the weaknesses of your body. You understand when the cramps start to show up. And then you can look around and you can see some other folk on the journey.

One of the things that always encourages me is when I see somebody a little more mature than I am. I didn't call them old, I said mature. But then I see them out there, that is a sense of encouragement. But I remember running my first marathon, and I was reading a t-shirt. And the back of the t-shirt said, "If you're reading this, at least I'm not last."

I knew that was immediately a person I had to pass. I got to pass you if that's what you got on the back of your t-shirt. I want you to read my t-shirt: Bible-believing, Christ-centered, Spirit-led. Because you know I am faith-strong. And so we're going to keep moving that thing forward. But what I'm trying to say, your harvest is connected to your endurance.

Paul says, "If we don't give up." That means the harvest is not just about what you sow. It's about whether you stay. Not just your sowing, but your staying. And I need you to know this morning that God gives you staying power. Harvest is promised, but quitting cancels participation. The harvest is going to come, but you've got to hang in there to be able to reap the harvest.

And you don't want to give up too soon. There've been too many people who gave up too soon. Your breakthrough was just about to come. And sometimes God wants to see are you going to be worthy, if you're going to be of the right mindset, if you're going to be of the right spirit. Sometimes I've got to find that out by putting you on the track, getting you out of the garage, getting you out of just a concept in your mind.

I've got to see, are you ready to walk that thing through? Are you ready to start praising God even before? They're trying to build up our football team and matter of fact, all the teams now, they're making trades, trying to get the right pieces so that they can have an effective football season. So they're trying to pull it together. It's the off-season.

And so you're trying to trade to get this one and you're trading to get that one. Because you're trying to build up where you see the weaknesses. I want you to know that God will send blessings, but you've got to still be there to receive it. You've got to be there to receive it. "Here I am, God! And whatever you want to send me, here I am."

Open up the windows of heaven, pour out blessings I'm not going to have room to receive. God will send the blessing, but you've got to still be there to receive. I played a whole lot of years of baseball. One of the things about baseball is making sure you're in the right position. You want to make sure that when that ball comes off the bat, you want to make sure that you're in the right position so you can be able to do it.

And again, I was blessed the other day with the World Baseball Classic when Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic. But then I looked at it because they posted how they were praying in the locker room before the game. You can understand serious prayer. The coach was there. All of them were praying. They were speaking in tongues and they were believing God for what God is about to do.

You can't limit God, and you can't have just a surface faith. You've got to have a faith that goes deeper. We've got too many casual Christians. You've got to have a faith that is a seven-day-a-week faith. You've got to have the kind of faith that I can bend, but I'm not going to break. You've got to have the kind of faith that I can go down, but I'm going to get back up! Come on, somebody!

I got a praise and I got to get it out. I might've gone through the storm, but I'm still going to give God praise. I might've gone through a funeral, I might've gone through a graveside, but here I am! If you walked away from that, you walked away because God has a purpose for you. Never shall forget one of the early funerals I went to years ago.

And then we were at the graveside, Mama was being lowered into the grave. And she had three very healthy daughters that were there. And they said they were pushing the funeral workers who were trying to keep them away while they were lowering the casket. And they were pushing and they were pulling and they said, "We want to go with Mama. We want to go down with Mama."

And they were saying, "No, you can't go there. We don't want anything to happen to you." And then I looked over at the funeral director and he just said, "Let 'em go." They all three of them, they ran to the edge. They said they wanted to go, but they all ran to the edge. A farmer doesn't dig up the seed every day to check it. Come on, somebody.

You plant the seed, you water the soil, and then you wait for something to happen. It's not going to happen on your timetable, but it's on the timetable of God. And I thank God I'm going to trust him every step of the way. Do I have a witness up in here this morning? I will trust! I feel like preaching this morning.

Because if you keep digging the seed up, you'll destroy what's trying to grow. Lent teaches discipline and endurance. Jesus endured the cross because he knew there was a resurrection on the other side. You cried, but you stayed. You struggled, but you stayed. You questioned, but you stayed. And because you stayed, your harvest is on the way.

Do I have a witness? Did you quit? No. Did you give up? No. Then what? I'm still in it. I'm still in it. I'm still trusting God. And I came to tell somebody this morning at 8:00 in the morning: The reason the enemy is frustrated with you is because he thought you would quit by now. He thought the pressure would break you.

He thought the delay would stop you. He thought the struggle would silence you. But look at you now! You're still praying. You're still praising. You're still pushing. You're still believing. And if you're still in it, that means God is not finished with you yet. Your strength may be low, but your purpose is alive. Your energy may be down, but your calling is still intact.

Your feelings may be shaky, but your future is still secure. And that's why this morning's message is a simple message: You're still in it. And if you're still in it, the harvest is still coming. Do I have a witness? If you've been tired, you've been living on the edge, if you've been wondering if it's worth it, I'm trusting in God.

Don't lose it now. Don't throw in the towel, but keep on praising. Keep on lifting up his name. Keep on telling a dying world about a living savior. I'm through, Highland Park. But when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all he's done for me! Deacon Daniels, we're happy this morning. Happy in Jesus. He's blessing us. He's keeping us. He put clapping in my hands. He put joy in my heart.

Can't nobody do me like the Lord. That's right, go ahead and run. Go ahead and shout because the Lord has done something for us. He woke you up this morning! Woke you up seven days out of the week. Brought us through a cold winter. Now we're in the season of spring. I will bless the Lord at all times. Do you love him? Do you love him?

And if you love the Lord, you might as well praise his name! His name! Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace! I love the Lord! I love the Lord! He heard my cry. Do you love him today? Don't fool me now, but if you love the Lord, you ought to praise his name! Something about that name. I said there's something about that name!

Yeah! Yeah! Ain't he alright? I see a little girl up there. She shouted. I'm going to praise him! I'm going to praise him! I'm going to praise him! You're still in it. You're still in it. After the layoff, after the tariffs, after high gas prices, after high cost on eggs, you're still in it!

I'm not who I used to be, but I'm still in it. Come on, somebody! Your hair might not be black, your step might not be light, but I'm still in it!

You've been listening to the radio broadcast of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. If you want to receive a CD or DVD of what you have just heard, please call 301-773-6655 or visit us on the World Wide Web, fbhp.org. And remember, there's power at the park.