God Giveth the Increase

The apostle Paul wrote to the Saints at Corinth, “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:4-7).  Apparently the converts to the gospel were very attached to the missionaries who taught or baptized them, and there were divisions among them because of this.  I love the principle here that Paul wanted them to understand: it is God who converts and brings salvation to the people.  Missionaries and laborers in the vineyard may help to point people to the Savior—watering and planting—but it is He alone who is the Lord of the vineyard and brings to pass the salvation of men.  In our own efforts to minister and share the gospel we need not be concerned with how much “success” we have, for it is the Lord who gives the increase and not us.  Our job is to plant and water, to nourish and direct towards the sunlight—but the miracle of real growth is the Lord’s.    

Mark recorded a brief parable of the Savior’s that alludes to this idea that growth is the Lord’s and not man’s.  “And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” (Mark 4:26-28).  We can plant, water, and create an environment for growth for some seed, but we cannot control that growth.  Even if we should “rise night and day” to watch the seed, we would still have no more control over it.  The miracle happens imperceptibly and completely outside of our power.  And so likewise the conversion of a soul is the work of the Lord and though He does let us labor with Him, He brings forth the fruit. 

               One of the corollaries of this idea is that we should not measure our success in trying to minister to others by the outcomes.  We should not feel that our efforts were wasted or failures if those we serve or teach or pray for do not come unto the Savior like we were hoping.  We are not the Lord of the harvest so we need not think that we can control the harvest.  The Lord invites us to “labor in the vineyard, with your might” but then tells us “if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself” (Jacob 5:71).  He lays up the fruit, not us.  We can have joy in the fruit He brings forth, but that will come in His own time and our job is simply to labor with our mights.   If we do that then we will have success no matter the outcomes.