When I was a teenager, I knew a man that was not saved. He drank more than he should, and I never thought he would change. He knew how I felt about the Lord. I prayed for him many times. I watched over the years as the drinking became worse.
Have you ever witnessed to someone, but it seemed like they would not ever change? Have you prayed for them for years and years, but it did not seem to make any difference?
Years passed. He got saved. He quit drinking. More years passed. One day he told me that my being the good Christian woman that I was had helped him.
I was shocked. I never saw that coming. I had no idea what exactly I did that made that impression upon him. How could imperfect me, make a difference for him? What specifically had I said? What had I done? Maybe the key was something I said or did after he came to the Lord? Maybe I answered some question for him in the right way that helped him in his walk. I don’t really know.
I will tell you something. If you’ve been walking the walk, and talking the talk, you don’t know what you’ve done either. You don’t know who God has used you to help, like He used me. Ultimately, it’s never us.
If people are not flocking to the Lord no matter what you say, do no assume that God has not used you to make a difference.
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:44
People do not come to the Lord unless God draws them. Even then, they still have free will. Not everyone we witness to will come to the Lord. Some will come later down the road.
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:5-9)
Don’t give up if you haven’t felt like you were effective. You may be planting, you may be watering, but only God gives the increase.
In my opening story, the time span is huge in my eyes, but God has His own timing.
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:8
Never give up on the lost.
LIFE APPLICATION
Key Focal Verse:
Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 118:28-29
Today’s challenge is to never give up on the lost. Ask God to use you to make a difference for Him. Don’t be afraid of rejection. Ultimately, it’s not you they are rejecting. Go ahead. Plant, water, and trust God to give the increase!