Sometimes we may get discouraged  because what we’re doing for the Lord seems unsuccessful. The children in the Sunday school class we teach are restless and inattentive. The neighbours we’re trying to reach with the gospel are politely indifferent. The members of our own family are far from the Lord. The world we lift up to God in fervent prayer grows increasingly violent and anti-Christian. All of this can lead to discouragement.

Listen to the words of a Salvadoran clergyman who was murdered for his fearless condemnation of violence and injustice. He wrote, “We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. . . . We cannot do everything, and there’s a sense of liberation in realising that.” He wrote that this attitude helps us to do small things and to leave “an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest”.

That agrees with the apostle Paul’s encouragement to be faithful in our tasks and to wait on God who “gives the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6-7).

Don’t allow discouragement to cause you to quit. In God’s own time our work will bear fruit.

Author

vernon c. grounds

Topics

Our Daily Bread