It’s Not About Results
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
-Romans 5:19-21
Hopefully we all can grasp what this verse doctrinally means for us. Jesus through his obedience to the cross supplied abundant grace for us. Where sin greatly reigned Gods grace triumphed. On our second day in Portland God showed me this verse in a new light. What God showed me in our short trip to the Pacific Northwest was opportunity for grace to abound. Rather than viewing a hard field as a negative, to see it as more room for God’s grace to abound.
Personally, I did not get the privilege to lead anyone to Christ during our evangelism time but had several interactions with both lost and saved where I saw the potential for God’s grace to abound in their lives regardless if I would get to see the results. Occasionally we would find people that we would ask if they thought a Bible believing church in Portland would be welcome and they said no. Even some Christians recommended finding other cities with less divisive worldviews, or recommended strategies to grow a church besides evangelism. Ultimately many people’s outlook of hard to reach places is to abandon it and look elsewhere or to forfeit your beliefs to fit in. Is this the strategy that God uses though?
In Genesis 18 a seemingly fruitless endeavor was proposed by God, he told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son. With Sarah’s age and being barren her entire life this is what science, logic and even our own faithlessness at times would deem an impossible task. However, the famous response from our Lord disagrees, he says: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” I truly believe that God was at work while we were there and is currently working and preparing hearts to receive God’s amazing grace after we returned home.
On our trip, two people received Christ and more people than we could count heard the gospel. Some hearing the gospel for the first time now have the opportunity to receive grace. Others had this investment by people long before we arrived sharing the truth and we got the chance to water those seeds. Most importantly the Lord gave the increase. I can tend toward impatience when sharing the good news. It is easy to view the success in terms of results and numbers. In John 4 Jesus warns the disciples of viewing their own success in that way in verse 38. “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” God uses different times, seasons, trips, and even people for different functions even within the realm of proselytizing. This truth allowed me to be obedient to share Jesus with people and not be caught up in the numbers.
Not only did Christ change my perspective on the city of Portland concerning opportunities of grace but he encouraged me in my personal evangelism in Georgia. With the seeds that I have planted that seem fruitless, I can trust that God can do what I cannot do and change hearts. In the lives of my coworkers and friends that sin abounds, grace can abound much more. In my evangelism, I don’t need results to please God I can just obey as Christ obeyed and leave the rest to Him.
