Bible Text: Philippians 1:6 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living |

And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns. Philippians 1:6, Living Bible

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he said, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Exactly 52 years ago today, the first Guidelines commentary was broadcast, and if you had told me then by some prophetic insight–that I would be doing essentially the same thing today but more of it, I would have been completely surprised. Early in my ministry I learned that God doesn’t show us much of the future. He only gives us light to take the next step, and then we must take the courage to go on, and climb higher.

Would you indulge me for a couple of minutes? Over the years our Guidelines’ commentary—the program you are hearing right now—has been our anchor, yet today Guidelines is touching the lives of many people in a variety of different ways. Three major ministries have developed: Broadcasting in a variety languages, reaching into more than 100 countries; the printing and publication of literature and books in 12 languages; and the networking with troops on the ground touching lives and reliving hunger and suffering.

On one occasion I was with a young man who is a pediatrics neurosurgeon, one of the finest in the world. We met at a hospital and began chatting. He had just finished a 10-hour surgery on a little 3-month-old baby boy, correcting a life threatening situation. He was tired, and with reason. “Mike,” I said, “it must give you a great deal of satisfaction when you give life to a little baby as you did today.” “Yes, it does” he quietly commented. I can relate to that.

People sometimes ask, “Why do you keep on doing what you do? Can’t you earn a better living with less work?” Of course I could. But what I’m doing isn’t work. It’s ministry. A visitor to ELWA’s missionary hospital in Liberia once watched a nurse working with a patient and said, “I wouldn’t do that for all the money in the world,” And she answered, “Neither would I.” I’m convinced that airline seats are closer than ever and the food on international flights get worse every year, but the joy of seeing God touch lives is also greater every year.

Yes, meeting people who tell me how their lives were changed through a chance encounter with a Guidelines program or book gives me satisfaction. Reading letters such as the one that reads, “I was ready to take my life and it was just like God spoke to me through you,” gives me a joy. Reading an e-mail message, hearing from a person I hadn’t seen since he was a freckle-faced teenager and learning that he is now a seminary professor and that his life had been touched by mine makes me grateful. All of those things make doing what we are doing worthwhile.

At the present moment we are working on three publications in Chinese for families inside China. Our “Legacy Project” is to plant Christian radio stations in areas of the world where there is no Christian radio at the present time. Happy birthday, Guidelines. My special thanks to the network of radio and television stations carrying Guidelines, and to all of you who listen, write, pray for us, and support the ministry. May a loving God smile upon us and grant that the past be merely the prologue to the future.

Visit our web site at guidelines.org to see more of what God is doing and how you can be part of it.

Resource reading: Philippians 2