Every preacher ought to be a gardener of some sort. There’s lessons to be learned out there!
See that greenery in the picture taller than the weeds? That’s my banana tree that I planted about three years ago. Every winter there is a freeze that gets it but it has always grown back as the weather warms. This past winter was especially hard and I thought that even the root system was dead. There was no sign of life even after we got well past the last frost. I was sure the winter had killed it. But then the rains came and now here it is, outgrowing the weeds around it.
Indeed, where there was one now there are three!
My point is this: there may be seasons of time in the life of a believer or even a church where it may seem there is no growth or maybe even death, but be patient. Don’t be quick to judge based off a season. Don’t be quick to give up. Not all life or growth can always be seen.
Keep planting. Keep watering. Keep witnessing. Keep preaching Christ and His Word. Keep inviting others to go with you to church service. Keep encouraging others along the way. God will bless the labor in His own time.
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-9, LSB)