I love my local church. The family members for Sunrise Community Church are very dear to me as I hope those on your local branch of God's family tree are dear to you. Sunrise, I want to share something that moved me on your behalf this week.
Our local branch is spending Sundays in April considering the hope and wisdom God's Word offers for different seasons of life, each of which possessing inherent obstacles to our human limitations. For parents: Lack of sleep resources for those in the early years and lack of time resources as the kids get older (very soon for Katie and I: lack of money resources as they ask to go places with friends and off to university Lord willing). For spouses: The constant threat of war when two sinners get married and vulnerably open themselves up to another. Lack of unconditional acceptance you want him/her to change to be more like you (though you don't really want this) and lack of forgiveness because he/she should first say sorry...and maybe even grovel a little. For singles: Lack of clarity with regard to how one should utilize his/her time and lack of self-control to keep returning to God with occasional or regular loneliness For those advancing in years: Lack of feeling valued by others and purposeful for God.
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| Annie Johnson Flint |
We have a resource to carry on and through these seasonal obstacles in the God-man Jesus Christ. When fighting to stay faithful for God and live different lives than the world, James reminds us: "But He gives more grace" (James 4:6a). Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932) took hold of this promise and drank of it deeply throughout her life. Her mother died when she was just two and her father passed away three years later. She trusted her life to Jesus at age 8 and years later began teaching. She taught for 3 years until arthritis (as a teenager!) made it impossible to continue. Within two years, she was unable to walk. She had to give up her dream of being a concert pianist as her body was now twisted up in chronic pain. She spent her remaining years as an invalid, but through it all remained outward-focused, large-hearted in generosity toward others, writing poetry to the glory of God and benefit of others - often enclosed in letters to struggling sojourners like herself. Here is one of her poems that I hope reminds you of the manifold graces available to you through Jesus:
Grace is God's love made active through an undeserved gift. The ultimate grace we have is God himself - God, indeed, is the end goal of the gospel. So when a person trusts Jesus, they are forgiven by and reconciled to God the Father and receive God the Holy Spirit to live with and inside of them (Acts 2:38). The best and leased deserved gift - God Himself!! From Whom flows every other gift.
My dear friend, in the midst of your seasonal trial: Boldly approach God and ask Him for more grace (Hebrews 4:15-16). Consider: Have you only assumed or actually asked? Grace may come in the form of a provision that reminds you of His presence, an answer to prayer that reminds you he hears not only the formal prayers but the terse and inarticulate grunts, a spiritual gift that sneaks up on you as you serve others (such that someone else has to point it out), a member of the body of Christ generously providing an encouraging word, an unexpected gift or a thoughtful offer of help, a sunset or ocean breeze gift-wrapped for you to enjoy (consider also the burrito and gelato!), a reminder of the cross to help you recall: "Yes, I forgive you again."
Now that you've asked, take care to pay attention, because James also indicates that gifts are easy to miss because we just consider them normal or, worse, deserved. "Do not be deceived my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows" (James 1:16-17). So pay attention to every good and perfect grace He is puts in your person or presence. And respond by fully pouring it out as an offering back to him through the thanksgiving of your lips and your service toward others - that He might giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
Sunday Morning presented a glorious opportunity for me to preach Christ Crucified from Mark 8:31-38. At the beginning of my message I mentioned seven reasons (!) as to why Jesus, whom Peter had finally confessed to be the One who can make all things right in God's sight (including us), necessarily had to die. Toward the end of the message I reasoned as to why embracing the cross is worth it. Actually it was Jesus' own reasons for why embracing His cross (and our own) is worth it. "There is a me at the end of every cross." With every cross we are called to take up, there we find at its end the greatest treasure of all - Jesus. And when you look a little more closely at the hardest statements of John 8:31-38, you'll begin to notice the many "me's" at the end of them (rising after three days, follow me , the built-in eternal potential to know me forever - called "a soul", the Son of Man who will return for us in the glory of His Father).
Here's one more reason why Jesus had to go to the cross and why His cross is worth embracing: The Example of Endurance using the Joy set Before us.
Here's the Scripture:
"Let us fix our eyes our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men that you [likewise] might not grow weary or lose heart" (Hebrews 12:2-3).
I've underlined above both why Jesus embraced the cross as 'worth it' ("for the joy set before him") and why this was necessary ("that you [likewise]" - the [likewise] being my parenthetical addition to help accentuate the author's point - the example).
Here's why Jesus' embraced His cross: Jesus endures through every agony of His cross "for the joy set before him" (v.2). What joy is that? That joy is re-uniting with His well-pleased Father. To re-unite with the Father such that the Father would be 'proud' or 'pleased' with the Son. Consider what we hear when the Father speaks audibly in the Gospels: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). The Son lives to please the Father (see John 8:29; John 10:17). All of this parallels our own 'cross to bear' - the end of which is further fellowship with our Savior himself and a well-pleased Savior at that.
Here is the main obstacle to Jesus' joyfully re-unititing with a well-pleased Father: The shame of the cross. There are many dark and difficult aspects of the cross that Jesus must endure - the physical pain, the forsakenness, nobody near who understood what he was going through. However, shame is the one agony of the cross that the author of Hebrews lists. And he says that Jesus despised it. An interesting word choice. Would you or I have chosen such a strategy to overcome shame? He overcame by despising it. Think: Mock, Scorn, Taunt, Turn up your nose at.
Jesus despised the shame of his closest friends abandoning him, he despised the shame of his reputation being mocked and an object of coarse humor, he despised his appearance being stripped down to nakedness, he despised the torture that tore apart all peace, he despised the demonically-inspired mob chants of "Crucify Him," he despised the vinegar he drank and the spectacle made of his suffering.
How did He endure? He despised His shame in comparison to the joy set before Him of re-uniting with a well-pleased Father. He despised shame, saying to it, in effect:
"Shame, you think you are winning? Ha!! I have a greater crown before me - the joy of being re-united to my Father. You see that?! You can't take that away. Compared to the joy I'm about to encounter, the Father's smile I'm about to feel, the Paternal embrace I'm about to experience, your nakedness, your cruel comments, your abandonment, your reputation-marring - these are nothing. I despise you and you are about to die with my death."
What is the joy set before you? Shame and humiliation are inevitable for the true Christian (Mark 8:34). Here are five joys set before you as you obediently endure suffering:
1. Greater knowledge and revelation of the Son (John 14:21).
2. Christlikeness (Romans 5:3-5; Romans 8:38-39).
3. Commendation ("Well done" Matthew 25:21).
4. Multiplication of Encouragement (Hebrews 10:24-25)
5. Bathing in the same Future Glory as Jesus Himself (Romans 8:17)
How you might likewise despise the shame of your cross:
1. "What you might do to my bank account and trimmed-back lifestyle while I give to the cause of Christ is nothing compared to the joy set before me"
2. "The funny looks I get when I talk about my Savior are nothing..."
3. "The cold shoulder returned when I invite someone to church are nothing..."
4. "How you alter my reputation for standing up for what's right...pssh...who cares compared to the joy set before me."
5. "The lack of invitation because I'm a 'churchgoer' and a 'killjoy', you think that's going to slow me down, shame?!"
6. "All the misunderstandings and unintended hurts because I prioritized my church and now used to shame me by family and friends. You'll have to do better, Sir-Shame, because I have ahead of me my Father's commendation, the glory and the likeness of Jesus, the multiplication of encouragement when I return to fellowship, a deeper knowledge of my Savior! All of this awaits me."
Final Takeaway: Use the joy set before you to despise, scorn, mock whatever shame you must endure for the Cross of Christ. Jesus died to give you this Example of Endurance.
Last night my boys and I were reading in bed about God's selection of David to succeed Saul as King of Israel. As the moral of the selection story is that God looks not at outward appearance but the content of one's heart (1 Samuel 16:7), we prayed that God would give us a heart for God like David...when my oldest son Mason interrupted my prayer himself praying: "Except for his later heart when he has that guy killed in battle." We laughed and then prayed that. Mason was right though. While David was forgiven and restored by God, his heart was never quite the same after adultery with Bathsheba, killing her husband Uriah, and subsequently losing a child. He grew passive. He allowed his sons like Absalom to first drift, then rebel, and then only casually restore them when they repent (he tells Absalom, who kills his brother & David's son out of revenge: You can return to Jerusalem but don't drop by my [your father's] house...what?!!! - See 2 Samuel 15:24). In large part because he was neither confronted directly nor restored by his dad the king, Absalom returns to rebellion by trying to take his dad's throne. Passivity curses.
The curse of David's passive leadership. David teaches us so much with regard to a singular love and passion for God, patient trust in His promises, and even integrity. But at the very end of his life, we are taught through a negative example of his leadership passivity: In the midst of charging and blessing his son Solomon, he inadvertently curses him - by laying upon him a burden that should've been his own. Here's David to his son:
(1 Kings 2:5-9 ESV)
[5] “Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. [6] Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. [7] But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. [8] And there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ [9] Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.”
Shimei had cursed David in one David's lowest moments - temporarily leaving his throne and on his way out of Jerusalem riding a donkey (1 Samuel 16:9-14). David essentially forgave Shimei and made to him what was perhaps a rash promise - but, even if not, one that should have extended beyond his life. Clearly David had forgiven but not forgotten - evidence that he had not, in fact, forgiven. More egregious was his command (or, worse, strong insinuation) to Solomon to not let Joab's "gray head go down Sheol in peace" (v.6). Joab was a largely faithful and certainly longstanding commander of David's military. But David constantly let Joab off the hook for egregious acts of aggression, most of which violated the king's direct order. BUT Joab was good at what he did - so David largely let it go - at least until this day when he would saddle Israel's next leader with the role of "bad cop."
The reality of your leadership & temptation to passive. Everybody leads somebody or, at least, should be. Such leadership might be in a church, a workplace, a family, or in your community. Somebody looks up to you and responds to your example (sometimes by avoiding doing what you do or imitating what yo do). It is becoming increasingly tempting in our day and age to lead passively - to be the laid-back leader, the no worries pace-setter, the fun friend who happens to also be your parent, boss, project manager, pastor, teacher. But what happens when you're gone - either temporarily or permanently? Can the person you've lead replace you? Have you been sufficiently intentional with them now to set them up for success later? Is the legacy you leave going to be a clean slate with only the treasures of your good counsel, patient 'training' and humble example framing an otherwise fresh start?
Objection: What about Let Go & Let God? I just met with a dear friend who lamented that they too often try to intervene and control a situation rather than allow God to work. That is a legitimate problem in any form of leadership - you want them to 'get it,' you want them to grow, or, a bit less healthily/OCD, you want them to perform a function in a certain way. Patience is required. But there is an alternative to the two extremes of either Let Go/Let God or GoGoGo/Get'erDone. Namely: Trust God AND Dig In. Let God and Let God implies that we are to no longer concern ourselves with something important until God acts. But that is now how the Bible conceives of trust. Biblical trust is (a) going to God with the concern and constantly entrusting Him with it in prayer. Hence the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8). Prayer is envisioned as God doing the change while we struggle (Colossians 4:12). More important to God than security or military guards to watch over His people was armies of hard laborers in prayer (check out Isaiah 62:6-7). Biblical trust is (b) patiently keep doing what you are doing as you trust God is at work both in you and behind-the-scenes. Hence: Paul keeps working to see people grow in Christ though understanding the ability to work is only because God is at work (Colossians 1:28-29); the believer keeps working at growing but God does all the heavy lifting (Philippians 2:12-13); there is a rest you can only find in continuing to work (Matthew 11:28-30) - but the difference, as highlighted by Jesus in these last verses, is you have someone sharing the yoke and doing the work with you. Your co-worker happens to be the resurrected God of the universe, Jesus Christ. Similarly, when you struggle and labor in prayer, the idea is that you get God, who becomes a Refuge and a Rest in a way that simply "letting go" or getting it out of your mind never can or will be.
Signs you might be drifting toward passivity & what you can do about it.
1. You have not given away a vision. David possessed a singular mission & vision for his life, which I think is best expressed in Psalm 27:4: "One thing I ask of the LORD / this is what I seek / to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life / to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord / and to seek Him in his temple." While David demonstrates such a singular passion and trust to those who fought with and for him (see 2 Samuel 23:16-17; 1 Samuel 24:3-7), such instruction and example is wholly absent in interacting with those over whom he had the most influence - his children. We have a family mission: "To make disciples who grow by grace in becoming mature in Christ." Accordingly, Katie and I take any opportunity to show our kids every gift of grace comes from above (James 1:16-17), we are totally dependent on God working to save us and others (Romans 9:16), it is returning to the cross daily that strengthens us (Hebrews 12:2-3) and helps us become more loving (Luke 7:47). Frankly, this happens a lot by responding well to sin - which we do a lot! (I am a professional sinner and amateur pastor). Katie and I demonstrating forgiveness of one another in front of our children, asking our children for forgiveness when we are unnecessarily harsh toward them or, in other cases, not harsh enough (let disobedience go unpunished out of our own laziness), giving God credit as much as possible, helping them see the importance of hard work and discipline as a response to God's grace not in order to earn it, giving to others as a family in recognition of His gift toward us are ways we intentionally impressing a godly vision upon our 'replacements.' What about you? What's your mission and vision? How are you passing this on? As a recent guest preacher reminded our people: When the Bible talks about "drifting," it is always toward disobedience and never toward God. Intentionally give away a God-sized vision.
2. When those closest come calling, you sigh, gripe and roll. When those closest to us (you know the kind who are so close and familiar that your rep won't be ruined if you don't respond angelically) come asking for something, seeking help or guidance, reach out for a listening ear, you find yourself rolling your eyes a bit more at the Caller ID, sighing at their voice from far away, or respond a bit abruptly to their needs - this is a sign that you've stopped caring to lead them well. It's so strange: But haven't you found that those with whom you're closest often get your 'scraps' at the end of the day or in a less pressurized moments? This defies logic, especially considering it is these upon whom you will have the greatest long-term influence (probably not that client, nor fitness instructor, nor little Jimmy's teacher). As highlighted above, David was ready for work-life and gave his best to it. He was likewise ready for church-life - he even wrote a good portion of the Bible's songbook. But was he too preoccupied on his walk home with success in these areas to consider: How is Joab really doing in loving God? If I've really forgiven others, why the bitterness inside? Am I really ready to minister to my family? If you are like me and at some point during the day travel back to those with whom you are closest (home, restaurant, gym, etc.): Use that time in the car or on your bicycle to ask God to refresh you, forgive you, renew you, get your mind and heart right so you can minister and lead well. When you arrive, God will have you ready to listen to problems, ask good questions, draw out desires & goals, and help them both plan and work toward greatness.
3. People soon suffer in your absence. You see the writing on the wall. "The quality of work will suffer a bit and these people will miss me when I'm gone." And too often we secretly envision this as a sign of our worth and contribution - but really it's the failure of passive leadership. David thinks he sets up Solomon for success by getting all the materials together to build a temple to God (1 Chronicles 29:1-2). But he saddles Solomon with the immediate problems of a renegade military commander whose personality is too large and decision-making unsound because both have gone unchecked and a father's last wish to exact justice where he failed to finalize forgiveness. In his classic work Spiritual Leadership, Oswald Sanders notes: "The true test of a person's leadership is the health of the organization when the organizer is gone." Would your absence leave: A vacuum in volunteering? Other potential servants paralyzed to step up? Family members ill-prepared to carry on with even a 'routine' emergency (ie. sickness, cancelled flight, last-minute project sprung upon you by your boss)? I know I need to be better trained in making at least 3-4 gluten-free meals for our kids which don't require a grill in Katie's absence while I need to show Katie how to access important financial documents and information in my absence. Perhaps a good starting point is: Should something happen to me, have I prepared someone to step in? If not, who should I ask? Approach them: "I may not always be around. Can I show you what I do?" Such an approach is an extension of the Apostle Paul's approach to training: "Follow me as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).
An Example of the Blessing of Active Leadership. Most people have heard the story of Isaac Newton's discovery of the law of gravity after observing the fall of an apple. What few people know is that is that Edmund Halley, the astronomer who discovered Halley's Comet, provided for a young Newton the kind of active leadership that set him up for success and greatness. Halley didn't go the laid-back route of offering his pupil a couple encouraging words and lots of 'space' (so he could set about his own research on that comet). In fact, Halley challenged Newton to think through his original notions. He corrected Newton's mathematical errors and prepared geometrical figures to support his work. Not only did he encourage Newton to write his groundbreaking work: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, but Halley edited the work, supervised its publication, and financed its printing, even though Newton was wealthier and could much more easily afford the printing costs. Halley gave away vision, stuck with encouraging and patiently challenging Newton when Isaac wanted to give up (versus sigh, gripe, and roll), and left behind a far larger legacy in his absence - namely, Newton & his work on gravity - than in his presence. A truly great leader!
Urbandictionary.com defines Mailing it in as: slang for doing the least amount of work possible to produce a adequately finished product.
I want to be honest with those whom I am privileged to serve as their pastor - I mailed it in this past Sunday.
I continually get to experience the grace of God (His love for me made active through a undeserved gifts) - and last week was no different. I had some wonderful times of fellowship with folks in the church and Katie and I were led one sweet night last week to stop our busy-ness and spend an evening giving thanks and praise to Jesus. But basking in the glow and a spirit of contentment, I mentally/spiritually felt myself begin to mail it in as it pertains to Sunday worship. Joshua 9 contains such a straightforward and practical message about seeking the Lord in prayer when making important commitments - I felt I had a pretty good handle on the passage (pride!) and decided I'd focus on enjoying my kids and the beautiful back half of the week/weekend (the best time of year weather-wise in Cayman has begun - breezy & cool). So while I worked on the sermon, put together an order of worship, and coordinated with other key Sunday Worship co-laborers, I sort of just trusted the Scripture passage and my heart to get in the right place in the nick of time. But upon arrival Sunday morning, I felt distanced from others and everything going on -- this distance continued during and after the service as well. So, first of all, I'm sorry dear brothers and sisters of the Sunrise Family. I did not serve you well. I also don't mind saying: If Sunday's message encouraged, convicted, or produced fruit through you, then it is entirely by the grace of God!! Praise be to Him!
I don't know if you've experienced a similar phenomenon - your heart begins to distance itself ("prone to wander, Lord I feel it" as the great hymn says) from what God has called you to do and how he has called you to work - as an employee, as a husband/wife, as a mom/dad, as a member of a community, as a volunteer. I have too. And I've had better moments, where God helped me to stop mailing it in before it started.
Here are three strategies I've found helpful for putting a stop to a mail-it-in moment:
(1) Pray for those whom you serve and those with whom you work.
I don't know the nature of your particular line of work or vocational calling. Some of you serve others fairly directly in your work- nurse, teacher, HR, sales, pastor, etc. But for those of you whose work affects other companies with a very slow trickle down effect to real people, even still you recognize your work affects more directly those with whom you work - your example of working hard and working hard so they never feel they have to pick up your slack.
One of the ways to stop a mail-it-in moment in your work is to care so deeply about persons involved to the point that you would desire and believe your work would provide significant benefit and/or growth in their lives.
How do you care more about persons you serve or with whom you work? It's not a matter of thinking of other people more. According to a report published by the U.S. National Scientific Foundation, our brains produce somewhere between 12,000-50,000 thoughts per day. Of these thoughts, 10-25% are directly fixed upon other persons. This means that at least 1200 thoughts you have per day are about other people. And yet you don't necessarily walk away from a thought caring about that person more. The thought just passes by.
The apostle Paul gave us a great example of how to care about such persons more - taking an otherwise passing thought and praying it. For Paul, prayer would lead to love and love would lead to prayer - a cycle of praying passing thoughts about others whose GDP is love. Listen to how Paul's prayer for the people of the church in Philippi lead to love and then love leads to prayer:
[Notice a thought...a 'remembrance' leads to prayer] I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from this day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. [Here comes love!!] It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. [love that now leads to prayer] And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more...(Philippians 1:3-9).
It's easier to persevere in the work your doing when your love increases for those who stand to potentially benefit from the work.
(2) Make sure you enlist others to be prayerfully invested in your work.
When I pray for something for someone, I am invested. I wish to know what happened. What did God do? How did something I got to be a part of turn out?
You might not believe it, but a simple weekly request of your Community Group or a group of close friends to pray for you will help them become more invested in your work - even if you have, in your opinion, the most boring job in the world (#3: Construction Flag-Traffic Person; #2: Exit Sign Designer; #1: Pillow filler).
And when you know others are praying, it gives you more confidence that God is at work in your work. He is helping you, using you, and doing things in and around you which you previously never even thought or conceived of.
In the above passage from Philippians 1, notice Paul had enlisted the Philippians who were "all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel." Paul's life work was a defense and confirmation of the gospel. The Philippians were prayerfully invested. As were the Ephesians, whom Paul also enlisted: "Pray also for me, that words may be given me so that I might fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might declare it fearlessly as I should" (Ephesians 6:18-19).
I have enlisted a few key individuals, who showed interest in praying that God's Spirit would powerfully use my preaching, the worship, greeter teams, audio-visual volunteers, children's ministry workers to greatly glorify Himself on Sunday Morning. They have now begun to gather about 30 minutes before the service to labor in prayer. I have a higher level of confidence knowing that my persevering in my work will be worth it - it is going to be used by God as it prayed for by friends!!
(3) Work hard and expect second-hand results
Christ's hard, literally excruciating work on the cross for us produces in us a surety about our spiritual status before Him (we are in the Family!!), which in turn produces great contentment and deep joy. Yet He asks us to respond to His work with work of our own. This response, thus, does not include: "Let go and let God." This was my mistake last week - I understood God's work for me but misunderstood what was the proper response. I let go and let God -- and so let my work go.
The Bible says I ought to work hard on my growth as a Christian (Philippians 2:12), to work hard at the mission God has assigned me (Colossians 1:28-29a), and work hard at my job (1 Corinthians 15:10c). So I should expect to work.
But as I work, something funny sometimes happens: I trust that my hard work ought to produce results. Such that, if those I serve or with whom I work don't immediately respond to my work, I am prone to become insecure some times, depressed at other times, and embittered at still other times. Such that I am tempted to mail-it-in next time around.
Our Father knows the human heart, however. So He reminds us of something else - there is Someone else working with and through us. So the Apostle Paul completes all the above thoughts about hard work:
- It's "God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13)
- I struggle to live out the mission God has assigned me "with all his energy that he powerfully works within me" (Colossians 1:29b).
- When working hard at my job, I'm reminded with Paul: "It was not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10d).
In each case, the Lord is faithful to show up in my hard work - to give me strength to do the work and the grace to produce results that possess a certain authority and finality. I'm reminded of Joshua, who in between inconvenient, mundane obedience (circumcision and observing Passover - Joshua 5) and daunting but thrilling obedience (marching around a city while singing with friends while they waited for the miracle of crumbling walls - Joshua 6), has the pre-incarnate Christ visit him in the form of a Warrior, sword in hand. Help with the very task with which he needed help and results. Jesus present to initiate, then join, then win the fight! Jesus produces second-hand results as Joshua works hard. Jesus is the second (and most important) hand.
A slightly more modern person who exemplifies this tension of hard work and second-hand results is George Mueller. Mueller preached in a local church every week for over six decades in 18th century Bristol, England. But he most is famous for his tireless work with orphans. Through Mueller's work and influence, the care of orphans in England skyrocketed from 3000 to over 100,000 by the end of his life. Mueller famously said about work: "Work with all your might, but trust not the least to your work."
In other words, don't expect your work will secure for you anything or yield results in-and-of-itself. Unless the grace of God goes with you, does the work, and produces the results, it will be in vain. And Mueller lived out this saying. He never (never!) solicited charitable funds for his orphans. He simply prayed and relied totally on the grace of God - monies would show up, often anonymously, at his doorstep and often just as the last shilling had been spent. He didn't trust His own efforts but for God to work.
You do your part, trust Jesus do His. We are freed to persevere well in our work when we can trust God to take care of giving us the strength to do it and producing the results to win the day! If people don't respond to your work, well, that's His problem.
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