” He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” — 1 Corinthians 3:8-9
Just Keep Planting
Our church recently started our prison ministry outreach. This has been an area God has placed on my heart, and personally I have been involved for more than four years. During that time, we have shared the Gospel with more than 350 kids. There are two kids I personally known that have accepted Jesus in their lives. Two out of 350 doesn’t seem like a success to the world, but the seed has been planted. Success is not measured by the results of our action, but by the willingness to be available.
Not every person we pray for, share the Gospel with or love on audaciously is meant to accept Jesus on our watch. We may simply be playing our role in the process in their life. Harvesting is God’s choice, but planting is ours. Let’s always be expectant of how God can move, but not waiting on Him doing so for us to see.
There have been plenty of boys in the detention center who have said to my face, “God doesn’t exist and I don’t need prayer,” only to cry out six months later for His Word. Don’t give up on the people you are ministering to because you haven’t seen the harvest. It might not be our job to harvest, only to plant.
I’m confident that 20 years from now, somewhere and someplace, a young man will be preaching the Gospel to others and telling them he met Jesus for the first time when he was locked up in juvi. We may never know the result of our works but God does. And that’s all that matters.
“David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. ‘I cannot go in these,’ he said to Saul, ‘because I am not used to them.’ So he took them off.” — 1 Samuel 17:39
When I was 15, I didn’t make my high school baseball team. I had trained all offseason and even went to a three-day hitting clinic where several major leaguers from the local area were some of the coaches. I thought I had performed well enough during the tryout to at least make the roster.
But when the coaches posted the list of names, mine wasn’t there. I scanned the list again, hoping I had somehow skipped past my own name out of excitement. But reality set in. My mind scrambled to make sense of the situation as I balanced a mixture of shock, sadness and embarrassment.
That rejection hit particularly hard because I had started building my identity around being a baseball player. Suddenly, I felt left out and unsure of who I was.
My good friend David had made the team, and later that spring while at his house, I found his baseball jersey in his closet and tried it on. I wanted so badly to feel like I was on the team that I thought wearing his jersey would give me that feeling.
But there was no way to escape the cruel reality the mirror was spitting back at me — David’s jersey didn’t fit me. He was much taller, so the tail of the shirt almost reached my knees, and the sleeves covered up most of my arms. I would’ve had to wear several layers so it wouldn’t hang so loosely off my body. Instead of making me feel like part of the team, all it did was remind me of what I didn’t have.
This makes a lot more sense to me years later. That jersey didn’t fit because it was never intended for me. I didn’t earn it. It didn’t feel the way I wanted it to because it wasn’t supposed to. It simply wasn’t my jersey.
This is what comparison does to us. I was so focused on fitting into David’s jersey that I missed out on all the metaphorical outfits in my own closet that I actually fit into. The ones that were intended for me, that were my size. I was seeking joy and belonging from something I was never intended to belong to. God had different plans for me, I just wasn’t in a place where I wanted to embrace them yet.
Another David understood this before facing Goliath. Before the battle, King Saul dressed David in armor: a bronze helmet, chainmail and a sword. It was the gear of kings and warriors, but David couldn’t move in it (see verse above).
Instead, he walked into battle carrying what God had already equipped him with: stones, a sling and confidence in the Lord. David refused to fight dressed as someone else.
How often do we do the opposite? We wear borrowed armor — chasing approval, success, influence or someone else’s definition of significance. We convince ourselves that our gifts aren’t enough, our story isn’t enough, or our calling isn’t enough.
But God never asked you to wear someone else’s jersey.
The battle in front of you doesn’t require borrowed armor. It requires faithfulness with what God has already given you. Comparison says, “You need what they have.” God says, “I’ve already equipped you.”
So rather than questioning whether your stones look as impressive as someone else’s sword, reorient your heart to trust the God who placed the stones in your hand in the first place.
San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
From 2012-2016, Harrison Barnes was a key piece of a Golden State Warriors team that went to the postseason four straight years and the NBA Finals twice. He averaged 33.0 minutes, 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the 2015 Finals for the squad that won the world championship.
Now at 34 years old, he’s back in the NBA Finals for the first time in a decade, this time with a new team and a much different role. After starting 52 games during the 2025-26 regular season for the San Antonio Spurs, he’s made no starts this postseason and is averaging 8.5 minutes with no points during the Finals. His role now is more as the wily veteran helping provide leadership to a young Spurs team led by emerging stars like 22-year-old Victor Wembanyama, 21-year-old Stephon Castle and 20-year-old rookie Dylan Harper.
The Spurs are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014, and Barnes is grateful to have another crack at winning a title. Though much of the team’s core is young players with the majority of their career still ahead of them, he’s reminding his teammates not to take this opportunity for granted.
“This may be the last time both teams are in the Finals for a while. We have no idea,” Barnes said after shootaround on Friday, via Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
The Spurs will have to dig out of a 3-1 hole after surrendering a 29-point lead that eventually led to a 107-106 New York Knicks win in Wednesday’s Game 4, the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. If the Spurs are to come back, the leadership from Barnes could be a factor.
His teammates have already noted how valuable his presence is. As they navigate this deep playoff run early in their career, the wisdom provided by someone who’s been there several times is invaluable.
“Shout out to HB,” forward Devin Vassell told the Express-News. “It’s been great for us so far and just his wisdom and his knowledge being in so many different games, Game 7s, championship games, whatever the case may be. He’s been able to just kind of calm us down and just tell us kind of what to expect.”
After a decorated three-year career at North Carolina, Barnes was drafted by the Warriors in 2012 with the No. 7 overall pick and made the All-Rookie Team. He stayed with Golden State through the 2015-16 season, when the Warriors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals. He’s since played for the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings before joining the Spurs ahead of the 2024-25 season. His last playoff appearance before this season was in 2023, when he averaged 28.0 minutes and 10.7 points per game for the Kings during a first-round series loss to the Warriors.
Now in his 14th NBA season, the Ames, Iowa, native is relishing the opportunity to play in the Finals once again. He told KCCI in Des Moines, Iowa, that he didn’t expect to be back in the Finals this late in his career.
“There were a lot of years where we were missing the playoffs,” he said. “…To be here this year where we’re in the NBA Finals, it’s a very unique and special situation.”
Earlier this year, he played his 1,000th career NBA game. He said he attributes his longevity to “having a village and day-to-day work and commitment. Obviously, it starts with my faith, but also my wife, Brittany, being the rock for me,” he told KCCI.
Barnes’ faith in God has been central to his life and career, and he’s been open about sharing how important it is. He calls himself a “devout Christian” on his website, lists the Bible verse Acts 4:12 in his X bio, and writes “#IJNIP” (In Jesus’ Name I Play) in his Instagram bio.
“Money, fame, and talent can be the top priorities for most professional athletes, but for Harrison Barnes, it’s his relationship with God that comes first. He is a Christian,” his website says. “Ever since he was young he grew up in the church. His faith has always been a big reason why he plays.
“On the inside of his shoes he has TGBTG, which is ‘To God Be The Glory’ and he just plays for Him. … He just realizes it is not his work, but His.”
Barnes’ faith began to take shape in high school, thanks in part to attendance at retreats, Sunday School and Bible studies. He even led some of those Bible studies.
“I wanted to leave an impact on the school, and I wanted Christ to be represented there,” Barnes told Iowa State Daily in 2009 after committing to play at North Carolina. “So I wanted to start that Bible study just to get a coalition of believers together and also integrate non-believers in there and just have that fellowship.”
He continued later: “I try to make [God] the center of my life and then just have that infiltrate all other spheres, such as glorifying Him on the basketball floor with all the gifts that He’s given me.”
The Spurs and Knicks continue the NBA Finals back in San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The world of NASCAR suffered a tragedy recently with the death of one of its top drivers, Kyle Busch. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, who ranks ninth in all-time Cup wins, died suddenly after a brief illness.
Of all major sports, NASCAR embodies the spirit of family like no other. Christian faith runs deep throughout the racing industry. The danger of the sport may contribute to that, but there is spirit of joy within the NASCAR community that can only come from a knowledge of a living Savior. Busch is one of many on the NASCAR circuit who have openly declared their Christian faith.
Less than a week before his passing, Busch won the Ecosave 200 in the Craftsman Truck Series. His excitement after winning the race spilled over into reality as he was quoted saying, “You never know when the last one is.” I am sure Kyle wasn’t referring to the shortness of our lives like the “morning fog” that James writes about. He had something else in mind — the reality of uncertainty.
Will another win come about? What is certain to come about is God’s plan for us. While we live in a reality of uncertainty, it is only uncertain to us. God has a plan for each of us and it will unfold as is scheduled. We can be sure God’s purposes are best for us and always designed to bring Him glory.
Unexpected tragedies may shake our faith if we lose track of the reality of what is certain: God’s sovereignty and His love for us. As NASCAR has many family members to support each other, all Christians have each other in God’s family, and in that we can be certain.
“‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ … And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” — Luke 18:4b-5, 7
Jesus tells this parable in Luke 18:1-8 with a clear purpose: to pray always and not become discouraged. That means persistence isn’t optional — it’s essential. The widow in the story had no power, no status and no leverage. All she had was determination. So she kept coming. She kept asking. She refused to quit.
The judge wasn’t moved by compassion or righteousness. He was moved by persistence. The widow’s continual coming wore him down until he finally acted. Jesus then flips the story and asks a powerful question: If an unjust judge responds to persistence, how much more will a loving Father respond to His children?
Faith is not a one-time prayer; it’s a posture. It shows up in the “kept coming” (v. 3), the “keeps bothering” (v. 5), the “cry out to him day and night” (v. 7). Faith pushes through silence. Faith keeps praying when answers are delayed. Faith refuses to let discouragement have the final word.
“Keep pushing” doesn’t mean forcing God’s hand; it means trusting God’s heart. Your Father is with you, even when Heaven seems quiet. Persistence isn’t proof that God isn’t listening; it’s often the evidence that He’s strengthening your faith.
So where do you need to keep pushing today? What prayer have you been tempted to give up on? God is still listening. Justice is still coming. Don’t lose heart. Keep praying. Keep believing. God is looking for that faith — and He delights to respond to it.
