Planting Seeds, Believing For Fruit

In 2004, I befriended an athlete in the country where we had taken a team.  She liked my Salon Selectives shampoo, so I gave it to her. (God can use ANYTHING to draw people to Himself!!) We have grown in friendship for 6 years, have talked by phone, IM and in person many, many times and at a deep level. She  has heard the Salvation message countless times – has always been very receptive, but I waited for the day she would finally make the decision to fully and completely surrender to Christ. Hours and hours of conversation, a great friendship and six years later, while translating for another ministry's team that had nothing to do with Ignite – she gave her life to the Lord!! Way to go, God!!!

As this crosses my mind often, and I celebrate this, it really makes me think about something.  How many ministries come home to report the numbers of people that "they led to the Lord".  While that is wonderful, and it gets people fired up.....do we ever stop to consider that all we did was pick the fruit of the tree and that more often than not their decision was the result of a seed sown one (or many), watered by another, fertilized by another, and we happened to be in the right place at the right time to pick the fruit.  How can we then come back and report on what "we" did.  God, save us from ever getting wrapped up in numbers and let us always be ONLY about the people, about the relationships...and to do our part to point them to You.  You alone will ever get the glory for decisions made as a result of our Ignite Groups.  We will not be a numbers-focused body.

 When we really understand sowing, growing and reaping, it totally takes the pressure off of us to have to “press” people to make a decision or to come back and give reports of how many thousands of people “we got saved”. The reality is…..it does not matter who gets the “credit”!!! If WE lead someone to Christ, there’s probably a bunch of folks who have been sharing for a long time. If we don’t…if all we do is attract them to be open to the possibility that there is a God who loves them, then so be it. Someone else will come along and pick the fruit. Who cares…..who really cares which role we play?! If they receive Christ and they enter Eternity in Heaven….THAT’s our objective!!!. SOW THE SEEDS….those who are ready to be a harvest will be it…..and sow, water and fertilize the rest. In HIS timing and in HIS way, they will receive. I LOVE how He works, and I love that it’s not up to us to MAKE IT HAPPEN…it’s up to us to BE HIM and to LOVE PEOPLE!!