Does God ever give you gut punches? He did that just a few minutes ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button, along with a few tears.
One thing that shook me was one of the final statements that the missionary made. He was questioning whether what he had done would make a difference. That comes to mind now and again as one thinks about how vast the world is and how tiny one’s work is.
As I pondered and identified with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24,
“Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
When the sower in Matthew 13 sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his coming death, and he knew the future of each of his disciple’s lives too. Each would seemingly die an untimely death.
We are currently living now in an agricultural area, and it is fascinating to watch crops grow. Sounds funny, but we can see the wheat, corn, and sugar cane growing each week. Yet, when one plants a seed in the ground, it seems that a funeral has taken place. A hole is dug, a seed goes in and is covered with soil. A little water is sprinkled over the spot. And that’s it.
Why is it that planting the seed is a sad yet hopeful celebration? It’s because you are saying goodby to the seed in hopes that it will do what Jesus said. You eventually want to see results. You plant in good faith that the seed’s death will give a good return.
Mission life is like that. Yesterday I talked about how that BMM is in a difficult way. Our numbers are dwindling. We have a few veteran missionaries and very few young couples who have come to help. The relation to the video that I just watched and what I said yesterday is this. Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries have given their lives to the cause of Christ here in Brazil since 1939. Each has come with the expectation of a harvest. Each realized that there are no guarantees to this type of work. The only thing that we can depend on is the Truth of God’s Word and His faithfulness to His promises.
Dying seeds produce what God desires and we know that his promise is that His Word will not return to Him without accomplishing His purpose. We all know that the work is His and not ours. Though we like to be a part of it. It was John MacArthur who said that being a pastor is the only job on earth where if something good happens, he can't take credit. And, if something bad happens, he is usually to blame. I laughed along with the group of pastors who was listening to him.
Missionary work is very similar and God knows that. God does something similar to what He did with Gideon. He limits the size of the army, so that when the battle is won, only He gets the glory.
So, come on down to help if you want. But realize that its a type of death.
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