Making a Difference

"So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."

-1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT)

So it's been a lil' while since my last post. I get bad about blogging sometimes. But if there's ever a time to blog my face off, it's now.

Do you ever get to a point where you wonder if what you're doing is making any difference? Not to the point that you question the road you're on or begin making huge life decisions or anything. But the results that you're looking for aren't really lining up with reality. I think we all go through that, regardless of our age or occupation. That's kinda been me for the last 2-3 months. Let me explain...

God calls us to plant the seeds of righteousness. In other words, its our responsibility to tell the world about God's goodness by the way we live, the things we do, and the decisions we make. But God is the One who brings growth, not us. I really struggle with that and always have. I sometimes feel like I've got to be the one who makes things grow in order to be satisfied. It's hard sometimes for me to plant a seed and walk away. I want to stand over it and force it to grow.

Often in ministry, we can enter a season where we're planting, planting, planting but not seeing the immediate results that we crave. We wonder why the seeds don't shoot out of the ground right away. We get discouraged by that and it causes us to get discouraged, frustrated, or worse, lose faith. We then begin to wonder, "Am I making a difference?"

I ran across the verse above a couple of months ago and just stored it away. In fact, at the time some of the leaders and myself were discussing the lack of results we were seeing. In a couple of areas of the ministry it just didn't seem like the seeds that were being planting were bringing the results WE thought they should. I encouraged them to keep plowing away, keep planting seeds, keep trusting God. I should've reminded myself of the same thing. Subconsciously, I was getting discouraged too.

Fast forward to camp 2 weeks ago. Many of us began to see some things happen. God was working, changing, bringing growth. Students were giving their lives to Christ and wanted to be baptized. God was bringing forgiveness in tough family situations. Students became broken over their sin, became desperate for God to take control, began looking to God as their only source. It was incredible! In fact, it was what God had in store all along. He didn't flee the scene. He was chipping away months ago, preparing the seeds for growth. We just needed to be patient and let Him do His thing.

But the kicker for me was one night when the speaker in high school camp encouraged everyone to ask God for something they needed. At first I thought that was a little arrogant. But the first thought that popped into my head was, "God, I need to know that what we're doing is making a difference." Immediately, I dismissed that thought. "No, God, I know we are making a difference. I don't need confirmation of that." I then moved on to something else.

At the end of that service during a response time, some of our students stood to say they wanted to be baptized. I went over and gave one of them a hug, told him I was proud of him, and he responded with, "Do you think Kywi will baptize me?"

Kywi is one of our youth leaders who came through our student ministry. He had a rough past, gave his heart to God three years ago, and I had the privilege of baptizing him a year ago. It is amazing to see what God has done in Him over the past three years. When the student asked if Kywi would baptize him, I lost it. In that moment, God said to me, "There's the confirmation that you need."

As I look back at camp, I am amazed at God. Of all the camps I have been part of, this was one of the most incredible! God was bringing the results that we all craved so much, but He was doing it in His timing. It's a good thing He is in charge of the growth process because He does a much better job than any of us ever could! Now all of those times of planting, planting, planting have all been worth it. God has brought growth, life change, results. Only God could do those things!

So my encouragement to all of us is to continue the work that God has called us to. Is there a friend that you've prayed for but haven't seen anything happen? Keep planting. Have you asked God to bring healing to your family situation but nothing has changed? Keep planting. Do you question whether you are making a difference? Keep planting. God will bring the growth in His time. We just need to remain patient and faithful.

As the verse says, "...nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."