Planting Seeds

"When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body." -1 Corinthians 15:37 & 38

Do you have any dreams or goals you want to pursue? I'm sure you do. Because God has placed the seed of eternity within every person, (Ecc 3:11) there is a desire for something bigger than us in each of us. And each of us was created for a unique purpose in mind. (Jer 1:5)

When we have goals, when we have things we want to pursue, to do, to be, it's easy to get caught up in those things vs. God our Savior. Although we know we need to be diligent and focused for these things to come to pass, we need to recognize where our life and dreams come from. I heard a friend say, "You think that in order to have it all together you have to make everything happen immediately, when in reality God is saying, 'Just plant the seed - leave the outcome in my hands.'"

The truth is, when we place our things, our objectives, hopes and dreams in between us and our God, we can fall into depression. We can so easily turn our focus from Him and onto ourselves. What we have, and what we don't have can be a wall between us and Him. It's only up to us to plant the seed. What we feed grows. What we water becomes bigger. But Jesus created us. He knows our thoughts, our hopes, and our dreams. He wants nothing more than the seeds in us to be birthed, to be made manifest. But, He desires we put Him before any of those things. Because without Him, our dreams lose their redemptive power. And because He loves us so much, He wants our hearts more than anything else.

Are there any goals or aspirations that you need to step out in? Or, are there any dreams in your life that are bigger than God? Scripture says, "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21) We can make plans, but we need to leave them open to God to lead us into the purposes and plans He has for us. Often they are different than we may think. But it is our job to keep Him first, and plant the seed.

Growing Through Experience

 

"So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah." -1 Samuel 16:13

We live in a very microwave culture.  If we want something, we want it now!  But, even though we can go through a drive-thru to get fast food immediately, this microwave mentality often does not apply to our calling and life with God.

We tend to think of David in the Bible as the great shepherd king, the worshipper after God’s own heart.  But I wonder when we think of him, if we truly consider all the processing David endured after he was anointed to be king?  Yes he won the fight against Goliath; but after he was anointed, he went back to tending sheep!  He spent many years running from Saul.  It was only after he was tested and he did not kill his enemy Saul that God allowed David to be king. This was years after Samuel had anointed the little shepherd boy in the field before his brothers.

Often we can be impatient with God’s processing.  We may want God’s promises - all right now!  But God has His reasons for timing that may not make sense to us in the moment.  We may not be ready.  We may not be able to handle what He wants to give us until He puts us in a place of character building.  We have to learn to trust God when we have not yet seen the manifestation of the dream that is on the inside of our hearts. This is how God knows we can be trusted with it. This is how we grow to be able to have the capacity to carry God-sized dreams.  We grow through experience.

Are you letting God grow you through experience?  Even if you feel the place you are at right now is not your ultimate destination, decide to treat it with respect.  It will often provide the training ground we’ll need to be able to withstand God’s promises in our lives and our ultimate calling.