Saints, there is so much the Lord wants to do in and through us. But, He will only do it when we are abiding by His will. We learn His will through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Then the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon us and leads us in our purpose for the Lord. However, this will not happen if we are caught up in things of the flesh. If we are allowing things around us to get our attention, then the Lord is not our focal point. When this happens our ministry becomes ineffective, because we are not being led by the Lord. When we are being led by the Lord, there will come a point where we have done all we can do. That’s when we have to step back, for the Lord to step in. In essence, we have completed all we can do, then the Lord begins working on growing those that have received His word. Paul being a servant of the Lord knew he had limitations, and he would reach the point where there will be nothing else he can do. 

There was a problem in the church in Corinth, they were divided. The reason for their division as they were focusing on the messengers, rather than the message. Some were saying they belong to Paul, others were saying they belong to Apollos. This was truly upsetting to Paul because they missed the purpose of the message. They did not focus on the message, because they did not make Jesus Christ the focal point. Paul realized these people could not move forward until they were able to place their focus on the Lord. 

In 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Paul was letting them know he and Apollos had a purpose and that was to cultivate them. One would plant, the other would water, but God would give the growth. In essence, these two individuals were servants with a purpose, and this is what they were doing. They did not have different agendas and were not trying to sway the people to follow them. However, the Corinthians missed the point, and that was to open their hearts and embrace Jesus Christ. They made the messengers the focal point, which would not allow them to experience the power of the Lord. Paul had to emphasize to the Corinthians, that neither he nor Apollos were anything because only God is able to give growth to them. Why, because they were servants on assignment to teach the Gospel, so people would come to believe in the Lord. This still holds true today, we are servants on assignment to help others to come to believe in the Lord. Some of us will plant, others will water, but only God gives the growth. The growth will happen when we complete our assignments and step back. When we do the Lord steps in, meets people where they are, and does a great job in their lives. Continue to walk in your blessings!