We live in an age of instant gratification, same-day delivery service, and high-speed Internet. The insatiable demand for quick results fills our lives, and we have no patience . . . for anything. This attitude has seeped into every area of society, including the church. We expect immediate responses to the gospel, instant church growth, and split-second discipleship. Jesus offers another perspective: trust the Lord’s timing for results once we have sown the seed of the gospel. We cannot expect immediate responses from our best evangelistic efforts.
The gospel comes to fruition in a hidden, mysterious process that yields results according to God’s timing. In 1992 I participated in an “unofficial” military visit to the former Soviet Union shortly after its collapse. My role was to speak with Russian military officers and religious leaders about the organization of the US military chaplaincy and how the free exercise of religion strengthened the combat readiness of our troops and their families. The Russians had disbanded their military chaplaincy seventy-five years earlier during the Bolshevik Revolution.
My efforts seemed futile at the time, and I saw no immediate possibility of Russia restoring its military chaplaincy. Four years later my wife participated in a mission trip to Omsk, Siberia. While there, a Russian Orthodox priest met and presented her with a beautiful leather Bible marker, saying, “Please give this to your husband and tell him that I am one of Russia’s first military chaplains in seventy-five years!” What a great reminder to trust in the immeasurable power of God even when we evidence no change from our best ministry efforts.