“My times are in Your hands….” Like a farmer we sow seeds of God’s word into the soil of our hearts and wait patiently for it to produce. Does it really take a lifetime to learn that apart from Him we can do nothing? We work, and strive, and hurry to finish our projects, see our goals realized, (and truly I love goalsetting!) but there is no quick way to get fruit on the vine.
Its all about staying vitally united to Him, allowing His Word to live in our hearts and the outcome will be a renewed mind and heart that is utterly dependent on the power of the seed to produce. We can never grunt or groan to quicken the fruit-bearing stage. We simple stay on the vine, watered by the Word, and it’s inevitable that the vine will produce the sap that filled the branches, and fruit will begin to “pop” out! It’s a lot less straining and striving, and a lot more resting in the power of the seed. The fruit that is born is not only the fruit of the spirit, but the fruit of answered prayer, and John 15 guarantees that when we bear that kind of fruit, our hearts will overflow with joy!
If there’s something that needs changing in your life, start with a seed. Locate good seed. Search the Word for His answer to your need whether it be healing, or peace, or a reconciliation in marriage or family, and begin to sow that seed in prayer, reminding God of His promises. He’s not forgotten but as you remind God, you bring His promises to YOUR remembrance. As you make His promise your prayer, you are lining up in agreement with His Word. When your “world” doesn’t look like the Word, choose to believe the Word above all else.
Its inevitable that the seed WILL produce, if you keep it in the ground and watered, and don’t let the care choke it out. After all, scripture says that the Word of God has the power within to save souls! Certainly it can save, deliver and heal every part of us, and those we are willing to stand in faith for.
I’ll encourage you, as I encourage myself to lean into God’s promises. Romans 8:26 says that the Holy Spirit takes hold with us in our “inability to produce” and prays in and through us the perfect will of God. In yielding to the Spirit of God in prayer, we have tremendous power made available to us to turn the tide of events, and even hearts toward God, steering your ‘world’ into the direction of God’s word.
The Sanctuary is surrounded by perennial gardens. There is a season when each of the plants buds out and flowers but I can’t tell you exactly the day or the hour. I know the timing is in God’s hands. Every seed of His Word you plant WILL produce in its season. Trust the power of the seed! It’s a new season and God is doing a new thing! Make room for God and keep your expectancy high.