A Preacher of Righteousness
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
— 1 Corinthians 3:5-6
George Smith thought his ministry was a failure. He felt called to Africa, but he was only there for a short time as a missionary when he was driven from the country. He left behind one convert, a woman. Not long after that, George Smith died on his knees, praying for Africa.
Some years later, a group of men stumbled onto the place in Africa where George Smith had ministered. They found a copy of the Scriptures he had left behind, and they met the one convert of his ministry, who led them to the Lord. Later a missions organization did a study and determined that 100 years after George Smith left Africa, 13,000 people had come to faith through his ministry as one person reached another, who reached another, and so on.
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The Bible calls Noah "a preacher of righteousness" (see 2 Peter 2:5), yet he lived for 120 years without ever seeing a single convert. He stands as an example of all those faithful witnesses out there who don't see a lot of results.
Are you one of those people? Maybe you have been talking to your family for years, and not one has come to believe in Jesus. Maybe you have shared your faith with your neighbors and coworkers but have never had anyone believe as a result of your testimony. You feel that you're the worst evangelist of all time.
But it isn't over until it's over. Your job is to be faithful. Your job is to do your part and leave the results in the hands of God. When we stand before the Lord one day, it isn't going to be about quantity; it is going to be about why and if you were faithful to do what the Lord set before you to do.
