For Its Own Time

As you look back on your own decision to follow Christ, you probably can see the events that led to it, things that began to soften your heart. You can remember certain things that touched you and made you more open and receptive to the gospel.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (NLT).

The seeds of the gospel that we’re sowing today are important.

You might say, “Well, I get a little discouraged because I sow all of these seeds, and I don’t really see anything happening.”

A farmer needs to be patient because God tells us that His Word will not return void (see Isaiah 55:11).

I’ve heard story after story of people who didn’t come to Christ at a Harvest Crusade, but they came to the Lord later that evening. Sometimes it took place in the parking lot, and sometimes it happened during a meal afterward. Sometimes it occurred a day, a week, or a month later.

That’s why we must be patient in sowing the seeds—in sharing the gospel—and not give up.

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap” (2 Timothy 2:24–26 NLT).

You see, the harvest is not at the end of a church service. It’s at the end of the age. So we need to keep praying and believing that God will use His Word.