Eternity will certainly hold some incredible surprises for those who refuse to quit. 

Vicente’s story should encourage us to keep going even when we see no visible fruit. Though not seen by those faithful witnesses who shared the gospel with him 40 years ago, God was at work through the gospel seed that had been planted in his heart. And today, 40 years of unbroken faithfulness amongst this tribal people has borne fruit, not only in Vicente, but in hundreds of others like him.

I’m reminded of a story that came out of the 1989 Armenian earthquake that killed 30,000 people.

Moments after the deadly tremor ceased, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw that the  building had been leveled. Looking at the mass of stones and rubble, he remembered a promise he had made to his child: “No matter what happens, I’ll be there for you.” Driven by his own promise … he began to pull back the rocks. Other parents arrived and began sobbing…. “It’s too late,” they told the man. “You know they are dead. You can’t help.” Even a police officer encouraged him to give up.

But the father refused…. Finally, after thirty-eight wrenching hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice…. “Dad, it’s me!” Then the boy added these priceless words, “I told the other kids not to worry. I told them if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you saved me, they’d be saved too.’”*

Perhaps in your efforts to rescue souls with the life-giving message of the gospel, you find your strength waning and your hope running dry. Let me urge you to not give up. Keep loving. Keep praying. Keep sharing. Keep hoping. God is at work. The gospel is His power. And He has promised: “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

*Story taken from Max Lucado, When Christ Comes, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1999), 21-22.