the implanted word
same seed, different soils
One of the things that I love about the Bible is how the same passage can bring about completely different responses from different people. It’s the same seed; but planted in the different soil of a unique person in the midst of their own peculiar circumstances…well, you just can’t predict what will flower and bloom.
I learned this all over again just a couple of days ago...
I arise on Sundays at around half past four. I make a smoothie, and then settle into my favorite chair in the corner of our fireplace room with my Bible in my lap and my journal at hand, filled with the expectation—and usually no small amount of desperation—to hear from God. On this morning the text before me was Isaiah. Chapter 43. A familiar text I’ve been quite fond of over the years.
1 But now, O Jacob, listen to Yahweh who created you.
O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
3 For I am Yahweh, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;
I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Others were given in exchange for you.
I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.
5 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will gather you and your children from east and west.
6 I will say to the north and south,
‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel
from the distant corners of the earth.
7 Bring all who claim me as their God,
for I have made them for my glory.
It was I who created them.’ ”
Nothing remarkable happened at first, as this little seed of God’s word sat on the surface of the soil of my soul.
But such things take time.
The practices of prayer and pondering are like water and fertilizer, allowing the seed to germinate, for tiny little roots from it to push their way beneath the surface, making their way deeper into our hearts and minds and souls. Even fifteen minutes of such practices, anointed by the presence of the Spirit who sows and tills the soil, is enough to initiate a little early morning fruit-bearing.
So I sat, and prayed, and pondered, resting and trusting God to press the seed in deep.
And then, it happened.
A little shoot appeared from this seed of promise:
…you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.
Isn’t that amazing!? Yahweh, the great God of the universe, who knows absolutely everything about me, from whom nothing is hidden, looks from his throne and declares that I am precious to him!
Me!
Precious.
In God’s eyes.
But more…that I am honored by this God. And that I am loved by this God.
I soaked it in.
I reveled in it.
I fought hard to actually believe that I could be found as having value and worth in God’s eyes,
and it brought tears to mine.
And joy to my heart.
I left for our church campus to continue a morning which would be filled with ministry…and I was happy.
I discover almost every day that the little seeds the great Sower casts upon my heart, and helps to germinate and bring forth fruit, are rarely for me alone. So often the same seed is exactly what is needed for the soil of someone else’s soul, even as that seed will bring forth a different fruit, placed there for a different purpose.
And Sunday mornings in particular present me with such sowing opportunities as I have the privilege of sharing bits of God’s Word in at least a couple of different times where our ministry teams come together to pray for the morning’s ministry. And prayer—talking to God—is alway most fruitful when we’ve first heard from God in is Word.
And so I speak—and sow—Isaiah 43 in a prayer time with a couple of pastors…
1 But now, O Jacob, listen to Yahweh who created you.
O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
3 For I am Yahweh, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;
I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Others were given in exchange for you.
I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.
5 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will gather you and your children from east and west.
6 I will say to the north and south,
‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel
from the distant corners of the earth.
7 Bring all who claim me as their God,
for I have made them for my glory.
It was I who created them.’ ”
And I marvel, as in very short order, this seed goes deep into one of my brothers, and he is moved by a different seed of promise than I had been. For him, the promise that goes in deep and immediately bring forth fruit is nestled there in 43:2—”I will be with you” (v2). He’s clearly moved as he says those two little words a few times, “with you.” I can see it on his face, hear it in his voice. He describes further what that means for him, and for us, and a sacredness falls upon my little study. I marvel. It wasn’t what God had for me moments before in my little fireplace room, but its what he had for my friend. And now he has it for me too as I hear him talk, as I see the implanted word bearing fruit in his life. I’m sharing in the harvest of what God is sowing, what he’s bringing forth in my friend.
Stunning.
A few moments later, I speak and sow Isaiah 43 again with some the musicians and tech team who will help my church family worship God in the service that is now moments away. And as I sit with one of those faithful servants after our prayer, she quietly shares the promise that goes in deep and immediately brings forth fruit. It’s not what God had for me, or my brother, but for her it’s nested there in 43:4—”and I love you”. There are tears in her eyes and on one cheek. God has moved yet again but in a different way on the soil of this dear friend’s heart. It wasn’t what God had for me earlier that morning, but it is what he has for her, the particular way he is caring for her, blessing her, planting truth about her directly from him, deep inside.
Amazing.
Monday morning arrives. There’s a brother in need, facing a situation that threatens to overwhelm him. We can all relate. We all know what that’s like. We’ve all felt as frail. And so I sow Isaiah 43 again. And now the seed sown is the promise of God’s fellowship when all seems lost—“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am Yahweh, your God, your Savior.” It was seed needed for anxious soil and a troubled heart. And I think little roots went down, and a seedling of hope appeared.
Timely.
In one sense, it was just another Sunday. Another ordinary day, in my very ordinary life, and the ordinary lives of those who are my friends, brothers, and sisters. And yet it was shot through with sacred and holy moments. Tender moments. Remarkable moments filled with wonder as the supernatural Spirit of God brought forth four kinds of fruit in four different soils over 36 hours.
These are testimonies to who God is, and the remarkable and loving way he works in our lives.
These are testimonies to the power of his implanted Word, by which he does that work in our lives.
And I hope you are moved today to take your Bible in hand, to sit in your favorite chair, and with great expectation—and maybe even a bit of desperation—open its pages to hear from him. Who knows what seed of promise you will find that he will plant deep in your heart, and through you, maybe the heart of someone else.
“And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word
and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
~ Jesus
