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One of my favorite features in each issue of the Texan is our monthly “Jesus Is Writing My Story” article. This article highlights the personal testimonies of faithful brothers and sisters in our Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches who have learned a lesson about walking with God that they graciously agree to share with our readers.
I must admit, I’m a little biased about this month’s article featuring Nancy Simon. When I was a middle schooler growing up in East Texas, Nancy and her husband, Brian, played a huge part in my spiritual development. Brian was the youth pastor at a small rural church, and I was a kid looking for something to do and, let’s be honest, a girlfriend. Surely I could find one or both at the Baptist church down the street.
But as I got more involved in the youth group, God began to use Brian and Nancy to turn my attention to matters of faith as much as fun and games. They would invite me and other kids from the youth group over to their house to watch movies, or Brian would ask me to ride along with him as he picked up and then dropped off kids in the church van. We had lots of conversations in that van—some of them silly, many of them spiritual.
Ultimately, I strayed away from the church as high school approached. It wasn’t until after high school that all those spiritual conversations took root and, in my 20s, I gave my life to Christ. I’ve often wondered how—or if—that would have happened without Brian and Nancy planting seeds in me that took a long time to grow.
God calls us to be seed-planters. Scripture is clear that only He can draw people to salvation. It’s equally as clear that His followers have a role to play, as well:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6).
"To you who have planted and watered until it hurts, who have tilled and turned with not even the hint of a sprout to celebrate ... just keep planting. God is absolutely at work, and you never know what He is going to do."
There are at least a couple of challenging things about planting seeds: it requires us to get our hands dirty, and once we’ve planted and watered, the final result is ultimately not up to us. Oh, that there were a Miracle-Gro for growing disciples of Christ! But there isn’t. All we can do is offer our emotions, invest our time, and wait to see what God will do with the ones to which we minister.
That’s often a deal-breaker for those of us raised in a results-driven, have it your way and have it now culture. We demand immediate outcomes. We want to know that whatever we’ve invested in will take root and become fruitful. The reality is, sometimes seeds don’t grow as fast as we’d hoped. Sometimes they don’t grow at all.
And yet our calling is the same.
I’m so grateful for people like Brian and Nancy who invested in me even when it may have appeared I was as clueless as a question mark. Though I claim to be nothing great today, I am saved, secured, and striving to pour out my life for Jesus.
To you who have planted and watered until it hurts, who have tilled and turned with not even the hint of a sprout to celebrate … just keep planting. God is absolutely at work, and you never know what He is going to do.
