But Only God

“Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task.  I planted the seed, Apollo watered it, but God made it grow.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor” 1 Co. 3:5-8.

Last year during one of my Griefshare sessions I encountered a young lady in her early twenties who had lost her best friend in an automobile accident.  She attended the first six sessions and participated in the support group on every level.  Griefshare is a faith-based curriculum using God as the foundation for our healing in overcoming grief.  It was during the seventh session that she turned to me and shared that she was unable to relate to anything regarding God.  As a matter of fact she informed the group that she really didn’t believe in God.  After that session she never returned.  I know that what occurred in her heart was this passage played out in reality.

God’s field is wide and long, offering us many opportunities to participate with the Creator in sowing the seed of His message.  I believe week after week she sat there as the seed penetrated and her heart was becoming more pliable and richer.  I believe her grief was being replaced with the message of reconciliation between this girl and God.  Her grief had dug a deep hole in her heart, exposing emptiness in her life, and Griefshare dropped a little seed.  Through each session, the participants would water her heart with the love and comfort of God.  God poured His living water through each person who tenderly shared their pain with her. 

There was no doubt in my mind that she didn’t return because she felt the seed taking root and breaking through the soil.  We all know that new God-growth can be scary and intimidating.  It challenges the thinking around which we have centered our lives.  It calls us to overturn every thought and view it from a different angle.  It requires life changes when we are clamoring for stability.  Griefshare planted the seed, the participants watered it and God will grow her faith in both His timing and manner. 

‘…but only God, who makes things grow…’