The God Who Calls Also Sustains

May 12, 2026

From Pastor Eileen States

A pastor once told the story of hiking up a steep mountain trail with his young son. Halfway up the climb, the boy stopped, exhausted and frustrated.

“I don’t think I can keep going,” he said.

The father looked ahead at the difficult trail still in front of them and then quietly replied, “You don’t need strength for the whole mountain right now. You just need strength for the next few steps.”

That story reminds me how God often works in our lives.

In my Bible reading this year, I have been in the opening chapters of Jeremiah after finishing the book of Isaiah. I keep thinking about the difficult assignments God gave these prophets. I wonder what must have gone through their minds when God asked them to do such hard things.

These chapters also took me back to my own early days in pastoral ministry at twenty-three years old. That first year was incredibly difficult. There were moments when I questioned whether I had understood God’s calling on my life. At one point, I nearly walked away altogether.

There are seasons when obedience feels exciting and full of purpose. But there are also seasons when obedience feels exhausting, costly, and lonely.

Isaiah knew that struggle. After boldly saying, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8), he was sent to preach to people who refused to listen.

Jeremiah’s assignment felt even heavier. He faced rejection, criticism, and deep discouragement. More than once, he wanted to quit. Yet Jeremiah confessed:

“His word burns in my heart like a fire… I am worn out trying to hold it in.” Jeremiah 20:9 (NLT)

That verse reminds us that faithful people sometimes wrestle deeply with what God is asking them to do.

Maybe this season feels heavy for you too. Are weary from serving, praying, parenting, teaching, leading, caring for others, or simply enduring a difficult season? Sometimes we assume that if God called us, the road would feel easier. But Scripture shows us something different.

God often does His deepest work in the struggle. The struggle teaches dependence. The waiting develops endurance. The difficult assignment shapes our faithfulness.

Just like that father on the mountain trail, God does not always give us strength for the entire journey at once. He gives us strength for the next steps.

“The Lord is the everlasting God… He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless… Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.”  Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)

May our church family continue saying “yes” to God, even when the assignment is difficult, trusting that the God who calls us is also the God who sustains us.