The pastor has to come to grips with the fact that he did his job to preach the Word of God and that God will, in his time, do his job to cause the seed to grow.
This is so hard for us in a microwave society. We want to go to sleep counting the conversions and thinking about the lives so evidently transformed by the text preached in the morning. But if we are honest this would often put the spotlight on us rather than God. In the case of patiently closing our eyes with trust in God, we find ourselves looking to him for the growth. And if we do this then we will look to him for the praise as well.
As I try to learn and relearn this lesson, I have found that the most important time of my week is not simply Sunday morning before I preach but Sunday night after I preach. I must trust God in both and not look to myself, trusting in the arm of flesh. Week after week passes and slowly the sprouts come. First we see the blade, then the ear, then the blade in the ear (Mk. 4.28). We labor then we sleep; and God works. And we praise him for it.
