All things that God had done with them

And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. Acts 15:4

We must never forget that whatever lasting and beneficial and kingdom-building ministry men and women of God do, can only be done under the blessing that God gives. It is only when we can say that what we have done is what God has done with us that we can be confident that it is for the glory of God and the good of souls. Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain (Ps. 127:1).

This is not meant to discourage us in ministry, nor to make us lazy. For what God does, he usually does with human instruments, not apart from them. This does not make God dependent upon us, of course. No, rather, it makes us dependent upon God. It means that we bathe our efforts for the building up of a gospel community with prayer and with a heart-felt dependence upon God and his grace.

In fact, this is the most encouraging of truths. For it means that in the final analysis, it is not our wisdom or strength or insight or labor that brings the blessing, but God's empowerment and mercy and grace. We can often only see our limitations. But, brothers and sisters, we serve an omnipotent God. Let us not be discouraged, but go forth and labor ever more abundantly - yet not in our own strength but in the strength that God gives and supplies (1 Cor. 15:10).