Planting Seeds

Do you ever wish you could manipulate the world? I do! I wish there were formulas like, “If I do A and B, then C will result”. But life is more like a garden, than a math equation. It’s wild, beautiful and unpredictable. And often frustrating.

Yes, we reap what we sow. If we plant apple seeds, we’ll get apple trees, and not turnips. But how many apples, how large, and how sweet they are, is beyond our control.

I want to know my role. I’m always asking God, “What am I supposed to be DOING?” I recently found an answer.

In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul says, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow... For we are co-workers in God’s service… 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (NIV)

Before modern machinery, when a farmer planted a field, he would prepare the soil, tilling and cultivating the ground. Then he’d bend low, pushing seeds into the earth. He would do this again and again, not knowing which seeds would sprout, which would wither, or which would be eaten by birds. Finally, he’d straighten, and water the earth.

The work of planting seeds isn’t glamorous or flashy. It’s up one row and down the other, sweat collecting on your shirt, mouth dry with thirst. It’s back bent low, dirt under your fingernails, doing the same thing over and over without immediate results.

We plant, water, even fertilize, but we are helpless to sprout a single seed. The growth - the life that pulses and pushes through the soil, the bud that forms, opens, and becomes fruit… that is God’s work. So we wait with hope and expectation.

We can’t determine how much fruit will come from our labor. We can only WAIT for it. In the waiting, it’s not just the seed that grows, but also our faith, our trust. Our self-confidence shifts to God-confidence.

What do you wish you could MAKE happen right now? A new job? A health crisis resolved? Are you waiting for a prodigal to come home, or a relationship to mend? Sow the seed. You aren’t a passive observer. You’re a co-laborer with God Himself.

Mama with littles: With every story you read, meal you prepare, song you sing, bottom you wipe, you are planting seeds of love and faithfulness.

Friend in a hard place: Every time you give your disappointment to God, and choose His ways over your own, you are planting seeds of hope. When you extend forgiveness, you are watering seeds of life and joy over bitterness and misery.

Fellow writer: You may put yourself out there, grow a platform; brand, market and even publish books. With enough money, followers, and support, you can saturate the world with your words. But only God can permeate hearts and lives.

Plant the seeds of what you want to grow in your life. Do the work. Without fanfare, or notoriety. Get your hands dirty. Break a sweat. But let go of the results! Trust God and wait with hope and prayerful anticipation. Then watch, not with pride, but with awe, that God allows you to put something small and lifeless into the ground, and He raises it up to something alive and beautiful.

What’s our role? We are seed sowers. But God - He’s the seed grower.

“Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful”. Isa 30:23 (BSB)