Yesterday we talked about leaving a legacy of love with your life.

It’s a big topic, I know. And it can be discouraging—especially when you think you keep missing the mark and never see any results. You read the Bible, pray, try to love others in your own small way, but wonder if any of it makes a difference.

Consider Julius Hickerson, a young Christian doctor who could have done well with a ‘normal’ practice.* But he wanted to go to Columbia for mission work, tending to people’s physical and spiritual needs.

After two years he felt like it was a waste of time; there weren’t any tangible results. And then one day, while delivering supplies to a village, his plane crashed and he died.

But some Coloumbians found his Bible in the wreckage. It was in their own language and was well-marked. In an almost unbelievable turn of events, the locals shared what they were reading with others, and actually established several churches all on their own, simply based on what they had read from Hickerson’s Bible!

A few years later, a Christian organization sent missionaries to the same place only to find that it was already missionized!

That is the power of God’s word—the message of and about Jesus. Like Hickerson, we may not always see the fruits of our labours, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Ultimately, God is the one who is doing the work, and his loving purposes never fail.

I’m reminded of Isaiah 55:11 where God says that his word “will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Just because you can’t always see the fruits of your labour, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Be true to God and love others. God’s word “will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

By Matthew Ruttan

—My latest blog is called “Better understanding the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ and how it works in Christians.” Did you know there are 9 virtues that Christians inevitably show in their lives? You can read it by clicking here. Enjoy!
–Today’s “Up!” is connected to my latest sermon called “Your Legacy.” You can listen to the 28-minute podcast here.
–*Today’s story is told in: Donald W. McCullough, The Trivialization of God: The Dangerous Illusion of a Manageable Deity (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1995), 125-126.
–Bible quotes are from the NIV.