Recently, God helped me recognize an attitude in my thinking. It wasn’t necessarily wrong—but it wasn’t entirely right either.  It fit a common narrative we often invoke when observing the changes occurring in the world around us.

I absolutely believe what God has said in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

God made this promise, and therefore, He can be trusted to do what He says.

Where My Thinking Went Off Track

Despite Christians turning to God and asking Him to heal our land, the world still seems to be growing worse.  Evil appears to be increasing with each passing day.  This led me to conclude there might be at least two possible reasons why healing hasn’t come:

1. Perhaps not enough Christians are humbling themselves, seeking His face, and turning from their wicked ways.

2. We simply need more Christians.

From there, I began to feel a stronger urgency to spread the Gospel—or at least support those who are doing so.  After all, if more people become Christians, then surely more of them would be humbling themselves, praying and asking God to heal our land.  Right?

You can probably already see the flaw in that line of thinking.

Yes, Jesus did say in Matthew 28:19:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

But how easy it was for me to turn this into something personal.  I wanted to help make disciples—not just for their sake—but to fulfill a desire I had.  It wasn’t a sinful desire; in fact, it was a good one.  But it was still centered around me.

Rediscovering the Heart of Discipleship

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, I don’t see that God had a specific number of people in mind.  Maybe He did, but if so, it wasn’t included in the promise.

Also, I had forgotten what discipleship is truly about.

Discipleship is not about me.  It’s not even about fixing my world. It’s about telling people about the salvation provided by Jesus—and that salvation is entirely about the person being saved.  It’s about enabling Jesus, through that person’s faith, to give the gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven.

What God helped me realize is this: the gift of salvation—what Jesus offers to each soul—is reward enough. That alone is worth our continued efforts to share the Gospel, to support our churches, and to come alongside the organizations and individuals who are faithfully making disciples every day.

It means leaving the “how many” and the “when” in 2 Chronicles 7:14 in God’s hands. After all—it’s His promise.