Don’t Give Up: How to Keep Doing Good When You’re Running on Empty
The Heart of the Message
It’s easy to start strong when God puts something on your heart, but staying the course is a different story. In this message, Pastor Dan Edmondson walks through four common reasons people grow weary in doing good, and why Paul’s simple command to the church in Thessalonica is just as urgent today. Whether you’re burned out, discouraged, or just not sure where to start, this sermon is a practical and honest reminder that the good you’re doing matters more than you know.
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Why does it feel so hard to keep doing good when nothing seems to change?
Pastor Dan puts it plainly: disappointment is one of the biggest reasons people stop doing good. When the hopes we carry for years don’t materialize the way we expected, it can make your heart sick, and that’s not just a feeling, it’s actually what Solomon describes in Proverbs 13:12. But that same verse doesn’t end there. When hope finally comes to fruition, it becomes like a tree of life. Pastor Dan points to his own son Andy, who served as a missionary in Papua New Guinea and rural Mexico, got seriously ill, and ended up doing inner-city ministry in Houston, far from the original vision. His answer when his dad asked if he ever got discouraged? “Dad, I get up every day and I do what God puts before me.”
What does the Bible say about staying motivated to serve others?
In 2 Thessalonians 3:13, the apostle Paul writes directly to believers: “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.” The word “but” is doing real work in that sentence. Paul is drawing a contrast between two groups in the Thessalonian church: those who were actively working and doing good, and those who were idle and disruptive, getting in the way of the people trying to make things happen. Pastor Dan notes that anytime you try to do something good, you can expect resistance, whether that comes from discouragement, lack of planning, lack of vision, or simple loss of faith. Knowing those obstacles ahead of time doesn’t make them disappear, but it does mean you don’t have to be surprised by them.
How do I know if the vision I have is actually from God?
Pastor Dan draws on Proverbs 29:18, which warns that without vision, people lose their way. He describes how the entire school and water well project in Sierra Leone started with a simple sketch on a napkin at a coffee shop, a conversation that could have been easily dismissed as too big, too far, or too expensive. That well cost $20,000, and they got it done for $2,000, because the right person happened to be standing in a Starbucks line. His challenge to the congregation is to get alone with God, take a napkin and a Sharpie, and start sketching out what God has put on your heart. The lack of money or resources, Pastor Dan says, is not the obstacle you think it is. God, as he puts it, can sell some cattle off the thousand hills.
Scripture Focus
Primary Verse:
2 Thessalonians 3:13: “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.”
Supporting Verses:
- Proverbs 13:12: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
- Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.”
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 (context for Paul’s instruction on work and orderly conduct)
- Mark 9:23-24 (the father’s cry: “I believe; help my unbelief.”)
