Growing up in the country I always loved to play in the dirt. My sister always laughed and said, “You can plant a dead stick and it would grow.” As an adult, I still love to play in the dirt and even have a T-shirt that says so.

There are times though that I get frustrated because I don’t always see the results of my labors. The seed takes too long to sprout or for some reason it just dies in the dirt. Did I do something wrong? Did I not water it enough or did I water it too much drowning what was suppose to produce?

The seed is an interesting little thing. The Lord says that if we have the faith of a mustard seed we can move mountains. (Matt. 17:20) A mustard seed? Wow, that’s the smallest of small seeds! He also said that the various types of soil we plant seed in also makes a difference. (Matt. 13:1-9) Maybe that’s where I’ve messed up. I’ve been planting my seeds in the wrong kind of soil. Instead of fertile ground I’ve been planting in rocks or hardened ground that won’t grow anything.

But wait, how can I know where the seeds of encouragement, faith, giving God glory is going when the seeds I plant through 2 blogs, 2 Facebook accounts, 2 websites, and 5 books are going?  Is my labor of love going into rocky ground, good soil, or just laying on top of the ground where the sun burns them up? That’s where the frustration comes in!

I think at some time, even if its only a quick thought that darts through our mind, “Is anything I’m writing about having any positive impact on anyone?” gives us a moment of pause. I don’t know about anyone else but there are times that I spend praying and writing and hoping upon hope that what the Lord has led me to say has helped someone else on their journey or led someone to seek Christ with a new and different attitude, or even better yet, led someone to ask Christ into their heart.

I never thought of Christians, and particularly me, as being a farmer. But we are farmers in a Kingdom kind of sense. We share what the Lord has revealed to us. It may be a tiny seed, like the mustard seed. But think about this. Every single thing that is needed to produce fruit is within the confounds of that thin shell within that tiny seed. The root system, the trunk, the leaves, the blossom, and finally the fruit. Everything is there! But a seed will not grow if it is left laying on the shelf. It must be planted to take root.

My frustration comes in not knowing if my seeds are going into furtile ground but as scripture says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.…” 1Cor. 3:6-7

I plant the seed and it’s up to Him to grow it.

Little Suzie planted a seed.

She ran into the house,

Filled with glee.

*

The days came and went.

Rain,

Sun,

Clouds.

*

Years later she

returned home,

And found a tree.

~~~~~~

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Blessings to you.