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How does God use you? What is your personal ministry? Are you excited because you have seen results? Are you discouraged from lack of results?

Consider these words from the Apostle Paul:

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Whatever our personal ministry might be, if we see good results, we are tempted to pat ourselves on the back. We’re tempted to think, “I’m really something, given what I’ve done!” But Paul says that when we think clearly, when we think soberly, we see that our faith is all that matters – our faith in the One with all power, with all authority, who has given us whatever gifts and skills we have, and who Himself accomplishes whatever He wishes through us.

Paul elaborates on this idea in 1 Corinthians, when writing to those who were lining up behind one or another leader:

1 Corinthians 3:5-7 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Those God chooses to work through for His good purposes are His servants. The work they accomplish is God’s work, which He assigns. Paul goes so far as to say that the workers are nothing. The work is all of God, from beginning to end. (more…)