God gives the increase

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. -  1 Corinthians 3:5-8

Seeing someone saved is very rarely a matter of a first time encounter with the gospel and an immediate salvation. It does happen, but that is not how it usually works. Most af the time there a seed planted at some point and some watering and some weeding and some fertilising. Eventually somebody gets to ‘pick the fruit’ and that is the one who, in some eyes, wins the prize.

Paul makes it clear here that all of God’s work is a team effort. We need each other and God uses each our skills and abilities and personalities to get a person to the point where they realise that they need a Saviour. That’s why our witness is so vital. We never know how God is going to use us in a person’s journey to faith. A word we speak or a Bible lesson or song we do in Sunday School or Kids Klub. That gentle word of faith or kind deed impacts lives. All those times we have shared our faith and seen no results are never wasted.

Some of us may do the even more basic work of getting the ground ready for the seed. Some of us may have to pick the stones out of the soils and till the earth in preparation. That’s not always the most rewarding in man’s eyes, but it is all vital work as we labour together to draw men to our Saviour. Each aspect of the work is vital, so let’s not get down if we don’t get to see the results. It is indeed God who is going to give the increase.