The Long Game
What if you stay faithful and never get to see the fruit?
That was the tension at the center of Pastor Ben Norvig’s message, The Long Game, from Jeremiah 1. We often connect faithfulness with visible results. If something is working, growing, or changing, we assume we must be doing the right thing. But Scripture gives us a much bigger picture.
Jeremiah was faithful for decades and saw very little of the outcome he hoped for. His story reminds us that obedience and visible fruit are not always the same thing, and that sometimes faithfulness means continuing to say yes even when you don’t get to see where that yes will eventually lead.
God Knew Jeremiah Before Jeremiah Knew the Assignment
Jeremiah 1 begins with God speaking identity and purpose over a young man who did not feel ready for either. “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5
Jeremiah’s first response was not confidence. He told God he was too young, and the interesting thing is, he wasn’t wrong. Jeremiah really was young. But God didn’t need him to feel qualified before He could use him. God’s answer was simple: go where I send you, say what I tell you, and don’t be afraid because I will be with you. That’s an important reminder for any of us who have ever thought, I’m not old enough. I’m not experienced enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not ready.
God’s calling has never depended on our ability to convince ourselves that we’re impressive enough for it. He already knows who He is calling, and He knows what He has placed inside us before we ever feel ready to use it.
God Goes Before You and With You
One of the strongest ideas in Jeremiah’s calling is how much of the responsibility still belongs to God. God had already known Jeremiah. God had already set him apart. God promised to go with him. God even said He would put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth.
Jeremiah’s job was not to make the message work. His job was to carry it faithfully.
That can be hard for us because we like measurable results. We want to know that the work is paying off. We want to see the relationship change, the business grow, the prayer answered, or the person respond. When we don’t see movement, it can make us wonder if we heard God wrong or if what we’re doing matters at all.
But sometimes faithfulness looks like continuing to do what God asked even when the results are slower than we expected. Our part is obedience. The outcome still belongs to Him.
Faithfulness and Fruitfulness Are Not the Same Thing
Jeremiah preached essentially the same message for decades: turn back to God. Very few people listened.
Then there’s Jonah. He ran from God, resisted the assignment, eventually preached in Nineveh, and watched an entire city respond. If visible results were the only scoreboard, Jonah would look more successful than Jeremiah. But that’s not how God measures faithfulness.
Fruitfulness can sometimes be evidence of faithfulness, but faithfulness does not always produce the kind of fruit we expect on the timeline we want. That distinction matters because otherwise we can start believing that slow progress means we missed God, or that a lack of visible results means our obedience doesn’t matter.
Sometimes the work is doing more than we can see.
You May Be Part of a Story You Won’t Finish
Jeremiah did not live to see the full impact of his obedience. His words outlived him.
Generations later, God’s people returned from exile. Jerusalem was rebuilt. Scripture was read again. Revival came. The story kept moving long after Jeremiah’s part in it was over. Pastor Ben traced that same idea through history. So much of what we have today exists because someone was faithful to something they never got to see finished. They planted, someone else watered, and someone much later enjoyed the fruit.
That’s often how God works. You may be praying prayers your children will see answered. You may be building something someone else will carry further. You may be encouraging a person without realizing how much that moment will matter years from now.
Not seeing the whole story doesn’t make your part unimportant.
Faithfulness Often Looks Ordinary
Pastor Ben shared a simple picture from his own childhood. His grandfather used to come outside and play ball with him whenever he heard him in the driveway. There wasn’t some grand strategy behind it. He simply kept showing up.
Years later, Ben found himself doing the same thing for younger kids in his neighborhood, and now he watches that same kind of investment continue into another generation. That’s often what faithfulness looks like. It’s rarely dramatic in the moment. It’s showing up, doing the part in front of you, and trusting that God can use what feels ordinary in ways you may never fully see.
You may never know the full impact of one conversation, one prayer, one act of obedience, or one season of simply staying consistent. But that doesn’t make it small.
Stay in the Long Game
Maybe there’s something you’ve been tempted to quit because it doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe you’ve been praying for someone and nothing appears to be changing. Maybe you’ve been serving, leading, building, parenting, or showing up in a season that feels slower than you expected.
Jeremiah reminds us that we don’t need to see the whole story to be faithful to our part in it. God has gone before you, and He is with you in the part you’re carrying now. The results have always belonged to Him.
Your job is simply to keep saying yes.
We are a community in Omaha, Nebraska helping people experience God’s best for their lives. Sundays at 9 + 11 AM.
