The Parable of the (Little Lady) Sower, Part II

So we did the thing that needed doing – Little Lady and me.

We prepared a tray of peat pots with some good soil and water. We cleared a space for the tray in the kitchen, where we put a small light over the pots to encourage health and growth. We used an hors d’oeuvres fork to gently lift the seedlings out of the clumpy, dried soil from the snake plant basket. We tucked each sprout into its own little peat pot cubby to spread its roots and reach for life. And then we sang, because music brings life: In nature, plants have birdsong; In our kitchen, plants have only us.

A small – and huge – success, thus far. Little Lady has thirty-three seedlings. Some of them won’t survive. Some of them have surprised us with new growth already.  

What I didn’t expect was more new sprouts in the old soil.

There, in the newly-turned but still-dry-and-clumpy soil of the snake plant basket, seeds continue to break forth into life. Beyond my expectations and certainly beyond my hopes – we have more seedlings. They are similar to several of the seedlings we already repotted, so I don’t think it’s a matter of different seeds taking longer to germinate. These just… weren’t ready. Maybe things were too crowded. Maybe they needed time to be convinced that breaking open was more desirable than hiding underground. Whatever the reason – these seeds, completely overlooked by me, have come alive.

You know who did not overlook these seeds? Yeah. God. Even now, He knows each one. He knows what it will be. He knows what it needs. He knows the very moment life burst forth from the tomb of each shell, because it was His voice and His will that called it into being.

And so here I am – with thirty-three already repotted seedlings and another thirty-three sprouts yearning for their own peat pots under the light – reflecting that God has blessed Little Lady’s faith, quite literally, one hundredfold. He has doubled what we salvaged in faith.

How easy it is to think we know all God can and will do!

How easy it is to look at a situation before us and put it into our own rational perspective rather than allowing God to speak context and purpose into it that defies human rationale!

How easy it is to expect that if God provided manna in the desert before, that’s how He will provide for us in our current desert!

How easy it is to speak of faith without truly believing in the daily miraculous work of Christ!

Friend, God did not bless Little Lady’s seed because she is more special than you or me. He honors what is sown in faith – not because of who we are, but because of who He is.

That is the crux of faith: It’s about Him. It has always been about Him. What joy to know He is at work in the dark, dry, crumpled soil of our lives simply because He is faithful!

Whatever you’re facing today, God is at work in that space. Oh friend! Throw your faith upon the One who is able and willing to do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond all we hope and imagine! Let Him bring to life all you believed to be dried out, expired seed.

Now then.

Does anybody need a marigold* or two? I think we may have some by Mother’s Day.

From my heart to yours,

*I say “marigold,” but what I mean is, “marigold, broccoli, thyme, dill, or rosemary” – I don’t really know what’s growing on over there!