Planting the Seed

The topic of ministering to non-believers can feel like a really tricky and intimidating one. I look at nature or I think about a baby growing in a mother’s womb and it never ceases to amaze me that there are people out there that do not believe, recognize, choose not to understand, etc. that there is a creator of the universe out there. I look at all these tiny little details in the world and they are all so beautiful, magnificent, and purposeful. It is so evident to me that God has orchestrated it all. I just simply do not see how someone cannot grasp that there is obviously a higher power out there. There is simply no way we could not have just formed from nothing; from out of nowhere. Here is the truth that I have come to understand with this, it has to be God that softens their heart. He has to first soften their heart before they are willing and able to accept the gospel and in turn fully accept the good news. It will not matter what kind of evidence or proof, or even how convincing we may make our argument seem, that person is not going to believe until God has first softened their heart and revealed Himself to them. 

A beautiful example of this in the Bible is James. James was the very brother of Jesus. He did intimate life with Jesus, so much so that they lived under the same roof. Yet even he was reluctant to believe. John 7:5 says, “For not even his brothers believed in him.” It was not until Christ revealed himself to James after Jesus’s resurrection that James’ ministry even began. 

Again, Jesus had to reveal Himself to James. It did not matter who was telling James that Jesus was Lord; it had to be Jesus that revealed it to him. Truthfully, this tends to take some of the pressure off ministry. I am only the vessel. I cannot force anyone to believe; only God can do that. My job is to merely plant the seed. After I plant the seed, I need to relinquish control and let God take over. God will water that seed.

Lord, thank you for allowing me to plant the seed.