finishing shows faithfulness

I talked yesterday about faithfulness, and Paul's strength when faced with the end of his ministry. He was unsure what would happen when he went to Jerusalem, all he knew was it would not be good, and it would be the end of his ministry. So what did he do, he got on a boat and sailed for Jerusalem.
In the end I feel like God weighs things out far differently from man. We(especially you southern baptist diehards) want to see the numbers and put together the totals to know how many people he reached. Others, want to know how many events he had, how big the crowds were that were actually there in attendance. Still others would want to know the demographics to know what percentages he reached and how many were left unreached. I'm sure this would puzzle Paul to no end and leave him depressed. He would fill out his paper work for the association or convention and feel like he failed in some way. This type of mentality focuses on the failures more than the successes. John Piper wrote a book, Brothers we are not professionals, and it was basically a call to being faithful. Not crunching numbers and sweating out the details but faithfully sharing the Gospel and faithfully sharing God's Word with those we are in contact with.
"I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do" (John 17:4).
These are Jesus' words, no where does it say I reached the multitudes, I preached 200 sermons, I wrote a book, I tithed, it simply states that Jesus had brought God His Father glory by completing the work He was sent to do!
So ask yourself, are you wrapped up in numbers? Is your church all tangled up in numbers? Or are you remaining faithful to what God is calling you to do? To where God is using you? That's all God asks for is your faithful service, and passion for the cause.
Mother Theresa was asked one day by a senator who was travelling with her. They were in what was called the "House of the Dying" where many were dying from cancer, it was a Hospice type of setting. He asked her how she went there continually to pray wiht these people and for these people whom she knew would not live much longer.
Her response, "God never calls us to be successful, He calls us to be faithful."
Think about those words, God has never called us to numbers, to reaching the multitudes. He simply calls us to be faithfully serving Him in the ways that He calls us. So be faithful to God's plan for you, so you can say in the end that you too brought Him glory by remaining faithful to His plans for you.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!