Yet More and More

 The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. Acts 5:12-14

One of my love languages is words of affirmation. I love when people stop to let me know how I’ve impacted them. I still have screenshots of touching birthday messages and a safe (that I lost the key for) with letters with nice words from friends. If I had to think of the 3rd most perfect birthday gift for me it would probably be a video of people talking about how I have benefitted their lives. 

I think it comes from a place of wanting reassurance. Wanting to be reminded or told that I’m on the right path. I love seeing the fruit of what I’ve been working on. I love seeing the signs that the personal growth goals I have set for myself are being met. Reassurance invigorates me and gives me the passion to do more. However,  it’s hard to keep working when I  don’t receive the feedback that what I’m doing is working. And I think a lot of people feel the same way. 

It’s difficult to measure the effectiveness of following God. We desire some kind of empirical data. . That’s why we love to talk about how much money was raised or how many people were baptized. I’m not a pastor yet but even now I find myself looking to numbers for affirmation. I love to hold on to the mental trophy of Redemption having had so many people watching, or my devotionals having x number of subscribers. We love stats, especially when others can see them too. I love to talk about how Closer had crowds of Oakwood students coming with no worship credit or official support at the beginning. I love to remember how many people came to Without Walls even after we switched the times the day of. It’s comforting to look at those numbers. It feels good to be affirmed and to flex because of what you are doing. It’s reassuring to get recognized and to have others cosign. 

And I can imagine the apostles felt the same way. They had been doing all these things. The Spirit was leading and their names were getting out there! They had crowds following, they were baptizing by the THOUSANDS and the church was growing exponentially. But it doesn’t seem like those crowds and growth metrics stayed consistent in every situation. We see in this story that the Apostles were performing great miracles and meeting regularly at the same place and same time... But no one else was joining. 

Being stagnant is a terrible feeling. You can be on a high, looking and feeling so inspired and productive… and then boom... You stop seeing the growth you’re used to. 

The Bible is so wild sometimes. These people respected the apostles. They knew what they were doing. It’s not like they were against it or anything. They just were not coming. They liked the apostles and liked what they said and did. They knew when and where the service would be. Heck, they were even probably going to be on that block at least once a week anyway! But the text says no one dared to come. No one showed up. No one joined. Same ole people every week. No movement. I don’t know if they were scared? Maybe they just didn’t wanna walk over. All I know is I would be mad if I was running these meetings. I would be discouraged. I would hold a meeting to talk about how something has to be wrong with our marketing. There is no way we have a good product and no one is joining!?!!? And I can imagine a lot of us are in similar situations. “God you called me to this leadership role and I can’t see anything moving forward!” “God you told me to do this but I don’t see any growth!” “I’m bored!” “I’m losing the passion!” “My friends are soaring and I’m not!” “I’ve been consistent?!? What am I doing wrong?” You may be asking questions like this and I feel you. I get it. 

It is so hard when you lose momentum. 

But here’s the hope.

I love words like ‘yet,’ ‘but’ and ‘however’ in the Bible, because you can almost see the hand of God whenever you see one of those words. The wages of sin is death BUT God gave you the free gift of life. We were lost BUT God found us. You feel me?

In this story, we get one of those. No one was joining... Yet many people believed. 

People may not be coming, but they are changing. 

No one was coming but the bible says, 

“...more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.”

I think sometimes we forget our mission. The mission of ministry isn’t clout or just building your personal brand. Ministry is about using your personal brand to point others to the Person who changed you! The goal of ministry is to point people to Jesus and His loving kindness. The goal of ministry is to serve, to be a middle man. The goal of ministry is to point people to Christ by following Christ yourself. 

The apostles might not have seen the fruit directly at that moment, but the effect of their faithfulness was taking place.

You may not see the fruit of God working in your life right now, but I promise you He is cheffing it up behind the scenes. People may not look like they are following but when you follow God you can’t fail at His mission.

If you go a couple of verses down in the same chapter you will see a story where the apostles are being questioned and someone had to step forward and remind the crowd that if they are trying to do anything on their own it will fail but if It is God working through them it is impossible for His plan through them to be stopped!

You may not see the fruit right now but I promise God is still working. His plan is coming to fruition. 

Keep trusting man. You may not see all the signs, but I promise God’s word won’t be void. If you’re in His will, you’re on the right path.

Just keep swimming. Even before you see the fruit of your labor. God is still working. Trust Him.

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