Late one night, my wife and I pulled into a remote petrol station in Tasmania, ready to refuel our rental car. As I glanced at the pump, my heart nearly stopped. The previous customer had paid $533.41—that’s over $350 US dollars! I thought, "There’s no way I can afford to pay that to fill up my car."

Then I checked how much fuel they had pumped: 283 liters (75 gallons).

That’s nearly six times the size of my tank.

I sighed with relief, realizing I wouldn’t be facing an enormous bill after all. I even took a picture, knowing I’d probably never see a sale that big again.

This experience got me thinking about how we often compare the results of our evangelistic efforts to others. It’s easy to feel discouraged when we don’t see the same results. Some people share the Gospel and see dozens come to faith in Jesus. We try the same approach and see no immediate response. It’s disheartening, to say the least.

But let’s pause and reflect on Jesus’ words in Matthew 13:3-9:

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Is the soil where you’re sowing the Gospel the same as where others are sowing? During my time in the Philippines, nearly everyone I spoke with accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior—truly fertile soil. Yet in my suburb of Sydney it is rocky ground and it’s been years since I’ve seen someone accept Jesus here.

So, what can we do to improve the soil?

• If the soil is hard like the path, we can focus on praying. Last year, we organized prayer walks in our community, asking God to soften hearts.
• If the soil is rocky, we can start removing obstacles to faith. This might involve acts of kindness, healing wounds from previous church experiences, or being willing to listen to objections to faith and offering gentle replies.

I’m sure you can think of other ways to improve the soil in your community.

Let’s pray:

"Lord Jesus, help me see the true spiritual condition of my community. Show me what I can do to improve the soil. Should I call friends to join me in prayer? Are there acts of kindness I can do? Do I need to be a better listener? Guide me, and change my community. I want to see Your kingdom come and Your will be done here as it is in heaven. Amen."

Let’s see what God does this week.