The Apostle Paul admitted that—while he “planted” the word in Corinth, and Apollos “watered” it after him—at the end of the day “God was causing the growth” in people’s lives (1 Corinthians 3:6). And while the work to cultivate a man’s heart can seem slow and unfruitful, Paul reminds us that God is always at work behind the scenes.
Dave Beakley, our regional leader in Africa, recently testified to this:
“After a long 2 years of COVID and teaching through Zoom, we have been expecting a slow recovery at Christ Seminary. COVID has caused many people to desire isolation with masks and distancing. It is now becoming a habit and even a stumbling block to fellowship. So, this year, I was extremely surprised to see the Lord allow us to admit 25 new men for in-class training!
In one interview, we had a very sharp young man come to us and he sounded like he had read Biblical Doctrine from cover to cover. He was accepted into Law School in RSA (Republic of South Africa), and yet desired to enter the ministry. Christ Seminary was his choice. We were amazed at the amount of clear thinking and doctrinal explanation from a man so young.
When we asked where he got his understanding, he just simply said “my pastor.” He also said that some other Christ Seminary graduates helped him in deciding to attend Christ Seminary. When we asked, “Who is your pastor?”, he simply replied, “My late Pastor Isaac.” [1]
We all knew Isaac, and we knew he passed away in the past few years.
But we knew Isaac differently.
When I think of Isaac the student, I think “Yikes!” In class, I never knew how much he really understood or applied.
Yet, here we have the fruit of the Lord’s work in Isaac’s short life. After leaving Christ Seminary, the Lord continued to work in this pastor’s life and the hammer of doctrine went to work on the anvil of circumstances in a man’s life and true biblical character was formed. Before he died, the pastor discipled a young man with extreme precision on doctrine and gave him the ability to think clearly about the Lord and desire training to throw himself into Kingdom work. Along with the Apostle Peter, I had to think, “…if God gave to [Isaac] the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
We can never, never, never predict or understand how the Lord works in people.
We can only marvel, and look for the next one.”
***
TMAI is blessed to have many faithful professors who bring the word to their students, but it’s even more encouraging to know that we all have a great God who desires that even more. Please be in prayer that God would make them fruitful in their work and multiply their ministries in the days they’re given.
[1] Name changed for privacy.
