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Text: 1 Samuel 7.13-17

Samuel was a judge and prophet for the nation of Israel. While he’s remembered as one of the most significant and faithful leaders in all of Israel’s history, the majority of his story is, well…pretty boring: “Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life.” Demonstrating holy redundancy, he traveled from “Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah” where he navigated legal disputes (1 Samuel 7.15-16).

Samuel’s story reminds us faithfulness is one of the few virtues that is only measured over time. Samuel showed up day in and day out. It wasn’t flashy and he didn’t do it for the recognition. His heart was set on serving God and walking in the good works God had prepared for him to do (Ephesians 2.10).

Often, the enemies of faithfulness are boredom and impatience. If everything in our lives has to be new all the time, we miss out on the impact of the faithful life. If we demand to see fruit from our efforts overnight, we’ll short-circuit the pace by which we become faithful people.

Today, identify a person in your life who has modeled faithfulness over the course of years. Then, think of which areas of your life you desire to be known as faithful. Take a minute to write these down and ask God to help you stay faithful in the good works he’s called you to do, even when it’s not flashy.