Scripture:
"But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?" Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, And there was a great calm." - Matthew 8:26

Are you and I guilty of a similar mistake in our daily Christian experience? After all it is so exciting to see the power of God’s at work. Especially when that miraculous work involves us. Who of us wouldn’t be tempted to express joy and excitement at moments like the one recorded here in Luke?

Jesus, however, cautioned his disciples about rejoicing over their spiritual successes. He instructed them to focus their rejoicing only upon the primary issue of importance. They were redeemed and their names were recorded in heaven.

Why was that so important? Was it wrong to be happy and excited about success in ministry? Isn’t it in fact nearly impossible, if not unnatural, to not rejoice at times like these? Why was it so important to not rejoice over successful ministry?

To help answer this let me turn your thinking around just a bit. Have you ever really rejoiced in times of apparent failure? Did it ever excite you? Probably not. How do you respond when everything you do for God (especially the things he directly commands you to do) doesn’t quite have a happy out come? Do you rejoice? or do you complain? If you are anything like me (and I hope your are not) you do the latter.

If we would take a good look at Jesus, we would discover that there came a time when it looked like his enemies had triumphed over him. In the eyes of everyone around him (including his closest disciples), the cross was the ultimate defeat. We know now that it was not. It is said that he rejoiced in his suffering for the joy that was before him. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2 Jesus knew that there would be times in the life of a Christian, when obedience to the will of God would not appear successful. So he warned his disciple against having a misdirected focus. There are times when doing God’s will you may appear to be a total failure. If your are not focus properly you may become discouraged and even quit.

Whether your ministry efforts at the moment, seem like a colossal success or miserable failure, you have reason to rejoice. Not because of the positive or negative results you experience, but because your name is recorded in heaven. It doesn’t matter if you are having glorious times of success or agonizing times of ineffectiveness. You can always have cause to rejoice. "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Thessalonians 5:18