God giveth the increase

1 Corinthians 3:7

So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

All of us must work for the Lord. We shall be rewarded according to our own labor. We shall receive every man according to his own work. But we must recognize that we shall not be judged for the increase of our work, only for our work itself. And how this removes the pressure that we often put upon ourselves! We are unable to cause the increase to come. Because here God’s Word tells us that God giveth the increase! I am nothing! The planter is nothing, and the waterer is nothing either. We are only parts of His plan. We may be used by Him, but we are not the ones that shall command the increase. Only the Lord can do that.

Now, my friends, this is how you and I shall continue to faithfully labor until the return of our Lord. For we are not responsible for the increase! We are responsible for laboring and planting and sowing. But the reaping shall happen if we are faithful. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy! If we are not weary in well doing, we shall reap, if we faint not! We must keep laboring! We must keep sowing and watering! We must not judge our effectiveness or the effectiveness of others by the results of our labor. We must only judge our work according to our own faithfulness to God. Will you be faithful to the end? You shall reap in this life or in the life to come according to your labor. For it is God alone which giveth the increase!

“Heavenly Father, we thank you for this encouraging truth. It is not any of us who can give the increase, but you alone. We know that we can only labor. Help us to be faithful to the end with our labor, seeking to obey the Lord’s will and calling. We thank you that we can be assured that you will be pleased with us if we labor, even if we see not the great increase in our lifetime. But we ask, according to Thine own perfect will, that we may see the increase in Thy perfect timing. And we ask and pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”