Imagine sowing Gospel seeds day after day and not one of those people placed their trust in Jesus. On the other hand, a fellow believer has been reaping a harvest.

Does this sound like you? Because that is me. I have not seen a single person get saved from my witnessing despite how many times I sow. A missionary couple I know of, who are serving in the Czech Republic, experienced similar frustration. Days of sowing turned into months and months into years. Year after year, despite sowing the Gospel to hundreds of souls, few were saved and the size of the church barely grew. No one seemed to respond to the Gospel. 

“Maybe the harvest will be reaped after God takes both of you home,” I said, trying to encourage them. “Like how the results of some past missionaries were not visible until after their passing.”

Not seeing results can be disheartening. I was feeling exactly that way during my mid-teens, even to the point of wondering if I was doing it wrong. What about you? Are you thinking the same? These three reminders encourage and direct me to the truth whenever discouragement hits. 

1. Remember the One Who Saves

Friend, a person’s salvation is not reliant on your actions. It relies on Jesus Christ. He is the One you are sharing about. Your works do not save another’s soul from sin; rather, you are an instrument the Holy Spirit uses to plant the Gospel. Christ is the One who saves the soul.

There’s a danger in believing the subtle lie that you are saving people by the words you say and the actions you do when it is He who has already died and paid for all of the world’s sins, including yours. 

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” – 1 Corinthians 3:6 (KJV) 

“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Romans 6:13

2. Remember to Not Compare

Why is another church growing when yours is stagnant no matter how many times you share the Gospel? Why does your fellow sibling in Christ see the results instead of you? Why aren’t you reaping while other people are even though you’re persistently standing on God’s Word and following Him? These questions can be exasperating; however, the Bible says to not compare yourself with other people. 

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.” – 2 Corinthians 10:12-13

When another person reaps, it doesn’t mean that they are more spiritual than you, and similarly, your numerous sowing doesn’t mean that you are more spiritual than them. Don’t compare the numbers because the Holy Spirit is the One who is working in the hearts of people.

Moreover, although your fellow brethren may be reaping, seeds can’t be harvested without being first sowed by the sower. John 4:36-38 says, 

“And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.”

3. Remember that Your Labour is Not in Vain

Although you may not see any result in your lifetime, your sowing is not in vain. As we can see in the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), the woman searched high and low for that one coin; similarly, in the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7), the shepherd left the 99 to look for that one stray. Thus, if Jesus loves so much for each individual soul, we should as well. Not for the sake of appearing as highly spiritual Christians to gain the praise of men, but from a love for Jesus. After all, sowing the truth is a command, not a request. In the end, you are sowing for Him, not for the results.  

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” – Mark 16:15

Going to lengths in sharing the Gospel is not futile because of the love of Jesus Christ towards you and every soul in the world which He shows in His death on the cross. Take heart, dear sower! Persevere, for your labour is not in vain. 

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58