Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! Romans 11:11-12

The patient work of God in the lives of people is simply amazing. We are often so short-sighted because we live in the here and now. God obviously has his eye on the past, present, and future.

So if God made Israel envious, does He still do that today with people? Of course He does. Think how long it took you to come to Christ. Was it after one or two Gospel tellings? Perhaps, but there were a lot of moving parts leading up to those messages, things we may never even know was happening.

Many years ago I was catching up with an old friend. He told me that I had sent him a Christian music cassette in the mail to his overseas location, and it was but one small factor (among many) that led to his faith in Christ (and I didn’t remember sending it!). For my friend, it was a series of events and words and even music over several years that led to faith in Christ.

There are two elements to this story. First, continue to plant seeds wherever and whenever you can. You can’t know the outcome of at which step the person is in his life, but you can plant the seeds. Second relates to the first: continue to pray for that same person because you don’t know which phase he’s in.