I've recently tried my hand at indoor gardening. With so much time on my hands, I thought I'd give it a shot. To my surprise, I’m doing a pretty good job. I have a wide array of plants springing up that hopefully will produce a harvest that will not only bless my family and me but just maybe we’ll have more than enough to bless others.
The picture above is the result of 3 green bean seeds that I planted just about 2 ½ weeks ago. I’m amazed at how much it grows from day to day without much effort from me. All I do is water it and make sure it gets enough sunlight. Oh, and due to my history of not being too good at gardening I did say a prayer as I planted the seeds in the soil, ‘Lord bless the work of my hands”. So far, so good. So God.
To trust God for a vegetable plant to grow is one thing but trusting Him for the impossible, uncertain, and tumultuous is a whole other level of faith. Or is it? Is the simple faith that it took to plant seeds for the garden the same simple faith that it takes to trust God for the inconceivable, unattainable, unimaginable, and miraculous? If God is ever so faithful in the small or insignificant things how much more will He be faithful in what we deem to be the big things? To be honest, I've had many times of crying out, "Lord I believe but help my unbelief."
Only when a seed has taken root in the soil of the heart will it produce the fruit of faith. For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word (seed) of God.
As I observed my vegetable plants, I noticed that they began to grow in the direction of the sun. So, I did a little research and God “wowed” me once again. I discovered that plants kept inside on a windowsill grow in the direction of the window and lean toward the sunlight. This bending towards the light is called phototropism which generates energy for photosynthesis which enables the plant to grow, be strong, healthy, and ultimately survive and produce.
To add to that already astonishing bit of information I learned that the stems and leaves of the plant while bending towards the sunlight are simultaneously growing upward and the roots are growing downward producing growth. I ask you, who is like our God?!
It’s also interesting to note that when my husband unwittingly turned the plants in the opposite direction, away from the sun, they gradually leaned back in the sun's direction. There is so much to glean from God’s creation that can assist us in our walk with the Lord. If even a plant so effortlessly and automatically draws near to the light to get all that it needs to grow, be nourished and strengthened how much more should we draw near to Jesus with the assurance of faith to find refreshment, rest, strength, grace, power and ALL we need not only to survive but thrive. As we bend our will, bow hearts and look to Jesus we gain strength to endure and produce a harvest of hope.
I encourage you today to trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding but instead lean/bend toward Jesus the Light of the world. We may not understand it all. We may be wondering when all this is going to end but I encourage you to let patience have its perfect work. Lean solely on Jesus and He will bear your weight, fear, burden, and anxiety.
When you bend in His direction You will grow upward, in Him. Your roots will grow down deeper in Him thus making you strong, stable, sure-footed, and courageous. We are human and sometimes we will be shaken, and feel utter helplessness but we can be assured that when the righteous cry out, God hears us and He will reveal Himself in His power.
Though our faith is being intensely tried and tested, we must stay rooted and grounded in the Word and in the love of God. Then we will grow into trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. (Isaiah 61:3)
Though it may feel like it sometimes, know that God is not afar off. He is ever so close. For the Lord will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance. His mercy will hold uphold us. In the multitude of our anxieties within us, He will comfort and delight our soul. (Psalms 94:14,19)
For we have need of endurance, so that having done the will of God, we may receive the promise. (Hebrews 10:26) Keep believing. Pray and pray some more. Worship and worship some more. Seek God and seek Him some more. You will gain strength and flourish like a palm tree. You will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. You will flourish in the courts of our God! (Psalms 92:12.13) Don’t lose heart. In due season we will reap a harvest if we faint not.
God is a Keeper and He is watching over us without intermissions. Trust Him to keep you moment by moment and let the sunshine of His comfort and grace infuse, settle and sustain you. For when our faith is tested it stirs up power within us to endure.
I invite you to set your heart to hear and respond, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait I say, on the Lord. (Psalms 27:14)
For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 62:11)
The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and a spring of water whose waters do not fail. -- Isaiah 58:11
Let patience have its perfect work that you may be complete, lacking nothing.
Trust God for it all.
Grow in the light of His love; this is our place of rest.
Be kept by God’s power through faith.
For whatsoever is born of God, overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome -- our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:3,4)
Cultivate the soil and plant the seed, God's word in your hearts like those whose seeds fell on the good soil, who hear God's word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. Luke 8:11,15 NLT
