Father, we want to be faithful in our service to You and to those whom You entrust to our care. It’s often a challenge and there are many excuses we can give for wanting to quit before Your appointed time. It would have been so understandable for Jesus to give up His plan to redeem the lost when He was beaten, rejected, mocked, and abandoned by those closest to Him. But He was faithful to the mission which is our only hope for salvation. Help us to remember that our labor in the Lord is not in vain; that our faithfulness is critical to the mission You have called us to complete. As we remain faithful we further develop the fruit of patience and endurance and inspire others as we model the fruit of faithfulness. We can do this only through the strength given to us through Christ in whose name we pray. Amen.