I am not going to lie.
Last week was hard for us. We
have been here six weeks and still do not have a single church member. Our hearts are heavy and our heads are
hanging low. What are we doing
wrong? Why won’t people come? We saw a
glimmer of hope last Sunday. Our neighbor finally accepted our invitation to
join us for church. He was also going to
bring his girlfriend. YES! Progress has
been made. They came into our apartment
that morning, and stayed for exactly three minutes.
Then they left. Technically they came and I am counting that. We still love our neighbor and still minister
to him. One day he will stay much
longer. We are being patient.
Every day we go out and every day we return home empty
handed. We spend our time and resources
meeting others. Resources we do not have
an unlimited supply of. The harvest is
ripe and we are so willing to be used by God.
We came here, right? We sold half
of our stuff and moved across the country on faith, right? Where have we gone
wrong? We are desperate to see some
fruits of our labor. We are tired of seeing sin destroy the lives of our
neighbors, this community, and this city.
We are tired of seeing the hopelessness in their eyes. We are tired of seeing our neighbor drown his
sorrows in alcohol. We are tired. Rest
assured, we have not thrown in the towel.
We are being patient that nothing we have done has been in vain. We continue our days bathed in prayer and
diving into scripture. We get up every
morning and head out the door. We know
that the time of rejoicing is just around the corner.
“Those who sow in
tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He
who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts
of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126: 5-6
The Lord has led me
to memorize the Psalms of Ascent. I have
made it successfully through Psalm 126.
I have read this verse at least forty times since moving to Sioux City.
Somehow, I kept missing the significance of it. One morning I was reading through a
devotional book and read the very familiar passages of Luke 8: 5-8, 11-15:
“(5) A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell
along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured
it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it
and choked it. And some
fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear…. (11) Now the parable
is this: The seed is the
word of God. The
ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes
away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who,
when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of
testing fall away. And as for what
fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by
the cares and riches
and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in
the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest
and good heart, and bear
fruit with patience.”
After reading this, I almost fell out of my
chair. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
I had ears to hear and I most definitely heard. In that moment I was granted Hope and Peace. I had a promise. Psalm 126:6 is a
promise. Those who go out with the Word
of God with the intention of spreading the Gospel will return home with shouts
of joy. We will return home bringing our sheaves with us. We are not
responsible for the birds, the rocks, the thorns, or the soil. We are responsible for the seed. The Word of God. His word will not return void. We will see the fruit of our labors. God is so good.
“and let us know
grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up”
Galatians 6:9
Dear friends. Do not give up. You will reap. You can count on it.
In Christ,
Amber
We studied this last Wednesday night with the youth, except in Matthew 13 :). We love you guys and we are praying for you. Don't give up! I tell my children that in some instances you will never know what seeds you have planted with someone. But know that God knows. Loved this quote -- hope you don't mind me sharing:
ReplyDelete"Modern evangelism makes the mistake of thinking that a worker must plough his field, sow the seed, and reap the harvest in half-an-hour. Our Lord was never in a hurry with the disciples; He kept on sowing the seed and paid no attention to whether they understood Him or not. He spoke the truth of God, and by His own life produced the right atmosphere for it to grow, and then left it alone, because He knew well that the seed had in it all the germinating power of God and would bring forth fruit after its kind once it was put in the right soil. We are never the same after listening to the truth; we may forget it, but we will meet it again." --Oswald Chambers, in The Servant as His Lord from The Quotable Oswald Chambers.
Thank you Kim! I know I have taught this very thing to so many people. It is so hard to teach things to ourselves. :)
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