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A few years ago at English camp, I had a cabin of older teenage girls. It was my first time leading a small group in German and not in English, so I was nervous. However, it went great! I had an amazing co-leader who helped me find the words I couldn't remember. Many of our campers were eager to learn more about Jesus, and others were full of questions they needed answered. One of my girls, however, seemed rather disinterested, always sitting quietly throughout small group discussion with her head down, waiting until she could get back on her phone. Through the week, she wasn't open to too many conversations, and my attention was more occupied with the girls who were more open. However, I thought about this girl often afterwards and occasionally prayed for her. This year, she was back! One day, she came and sat down with me for lunch. We sat at the furthest table from the others and got to have a great conversation. We started talking about English camp and the other camp she also attends in the summers. We talked about which programs throughout the week at this camp different people had chosen to go to and how they were. But the question lingered in my mind: "I still can't tell. Where does she stand with Jesus?" So this time, I just asked. "[Her name], so where does your faith stand today? Are you confident that you've made a personal decision to follow Jesus?"
Her response surprised me. A big smile came across her face, and she immediately responded, "Yes!" I've never seen her speak so confidently. She went on to tell me how she made that decision a few years ago and was baptized. She asked me what I had been learning about God from being a mom, and as I talked about coming to a deeper realization of the Father's unconditional love for us, she was nodding and saying "Amen!"
This served as a good reminder to me: God is always working.
Paul reminds us, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth" (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
God doesn't need us, but he delights in using us. Perhaps he used me a few years ago to give a few drops of water onto the good seed of the Gospel planted in her heart. Other camps and her local church poured more water on that seed, and God made it grow and reaped a great harvest! Hallelujah! Praise God that the pressure is not on us to make things grow. We cannot save anyone. We are just to be faithful with what God has placed before us, taking the chances to plant and water when given. Then we can trust God to make things grow in His timing and in His perfect ways.
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