When We Do Not See the Fruit Yet | Raising the Young for Christ Ent. 8

Image Credit: Jesus Welcomes Little Children (Luke 18:15–17) by Good News Productions International. Image accessed via FreeBibleimages.org. Used under their terms of download.

    Serving in Sunday School has joys, but it also brings moments that weigh on us. In the first months of our ministry, we welcomed several children whose parents were not attending church. They came regularly for a time, listened during lessons, and joined in the activities. Then some of them stopped coming. We could no longer reach them each week as well. Their absence reminded us that ministry is not always a steady upward line. People may come for a season and then be gone.

    We still remember that these children heard God’s Word. They listened when we taught about sin and salvation, when we connected Old Testament offerings of the spotless lamb to the perfect sacrifice of Christ. They were there when we explained that even if we gave our own lives, we could not pay for our sins because we are not pure. Only Jesus could do that. These truths were spoken into their hearing. Whether or not they return soon, those moments cannot be taken back.

    Scripture gives us perspective for such times. Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6, NKJV). Our calling is to plant and water faithfully; the increase belongs to Him. This truth does not remove the sadness of seeing empty chairs, but it does help us to be still. It reminds us that the results are never in our hands.

    This is why we continue to pray for them. We ask that God would cause the truths they heard to rise again in their minds, even years from now. We pray that they would remember what the spotless Lamb means, why Jesus died, and why He alone can save. Isaiah 55:11 assures us that His Word will accomplish His purpose. We may not see the timing or the way, but we can trust that no Scripture they heard was wasted.

    Waiting for fruit we cannot yet see can test our endurance. Galatians 6:9 tells us, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” This means we keep sowing, keep watering, and keep praying, even when the soil seems hard. We do not measure the value of the work by immediate results, but by whether we have been faithful to speak the truth God has given us.

    In Sunday School, much of the harvest will be beyond our sight. Yet the Lord sees every seed planted, even when it lies hidden in the soil for a long time. Our part is to continue the work He has given us, trusting that He will bring the fruit in His way and in His time.