"Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness."
Hosea 10:12
Many of you know that I have just returned from almost 3 weeks in the UK. I had the most wonderful time and it was God breathed and blessed in oh so many ways. (More about the content of the trip, later.)
One of the most wonderful gifts of my trip was to be able to be with three of my kids--Sarah, Joel and Joy. (We missed Nathan and Rachael and talked about how they must come here soon!)
I feel like I was watching the full blooming of my work from many years. All three kids were reaching out to people, making new friends, speaking of great ideas, serving some in need in dire circumstances and showing rich, vibrant souls.
I have realized that there were sooooo many times I wondered if my children could perceive my negative feelings about my task, at times, or my weariness, or my frustration. Did my work matter? Was I capable of completing the ideals and the gargantuan task I had set before me? Would I ever see maturity?
On my recent trip, I was also struck constantly be the fact of how many women (and men) I met, who wandered lost in their lives amidst a sea of relative morality, lack of leadership, unsure of direction. It has created a desire to write once again about the foundations that give life strength and that builds a godly heritage.
But most of all, I wanted to say that all of the gardening of souls indeed matters. When moms sacrifice their own needs and lives to build a godly legacy, the fruit is sweet, satisfying, and eternally vibrant. Sow broadly, generously, and do the hard work of gardening the soul. Indeed your reward will be amazing and sure when done in His Spirit. This brought to mind another blog I had posted a while back. And the truth of it resounded in my heart as I reviewed it again. I hope it will in yours!
I have always loved fields of wildflowers. Seems to me when I see fields and fields of the beauty, (and blue is my favorite color), I almost feel like it is evidence of the invisible hands of God still planting flowers in His gardens to remind us that He is still creating and perpetuating life, even when we are not aware.
When looking at a tiny seed, it is impossible to see what will bloom from this minute speck of nothing, -the color it will produce, the bloom or fruit, or how large the plant will be. There is vast potential locked within, that under the right circumstances--planted in good soil, watered and covered in sunshine, a miracle will happen. The seed transforms into something more than itself--it gives birth to a plant that blooms and brings beauty, life, color and a fruit--and this is a miracle-almost something out of nothing.
And so, God calls us to sow--to sow broadly, generously, diligently.
Sometimes the seeds that He requires us to sow, do not obviously promise anything--yet, we are asked to believe in the potential--the latent miracles inside of these small life-seeds.
We are to sow with a view to righteousness--not seeing or knowing totally the vast potential of what is in our hands. But ours is to be faithful to sow, by faith, the seeds of promise given to us--
to cast the seed of promise into the soil of life, generously, diligently, faithfully--
And His is to do the miracle-
To take all of the planting of faith seeds, and love seeds, and integrity seeds, and faithfulness seeds, into the moments of our lives when no one else is looking;
faithfulness to the gospel and spreading the good news;
serving our children, and loving and helping our spouses;
praying and believing when no sprout of answer is in sight.
And yet, in time, in His hands,
there will be such a bounty of beauty, a harvest from the seeds planted in life, that we will finally see, that
He was creating the miracle right beside us--the seeds will indeed sprout into a harvest of righteousness and redemption that will be beyond what we could have imagined.
But, the harvest of such sowing is only for those who plant, and water and cultivate and wait, by faith, believing in the promise of what lays ahead.
So, dear God, let us look at the flowers you have planted and see the potential beautiful harvest of our lives, if we will only believe in the seed potential in our lives right now,
which by faith will become a harvest of righteousness beyond measure. You are gardeners of souls.
I just had to include my video that I made a year ago--about our role as gardeners of the souls of our children. May you be blessed in the confidence knowing that your work matters!