sowing seed

A farmer went out to sow his seed...
Some fell on the path;

the birds ate them.

Some fell on rocky places;

it quickly sprang up but was scorched

and withered from having no roots.

Some fell among thorns;

these grew and choked the plants

Some fell on good soil;

it produced a crop.

Jesus explains this parable in Matthew 13:18-23. In Crazy Love, Francis Chan writes, "My caution to you is this: Do not assume you are good soil."

As I finished up making mounds of cucumbers and zucchini and squash and melons, I thought to myself, Okay, these seeds better grow now. We've planted about 15 packets of "premium" seeds in this garden of good soil. What if it's all for nothing?! What if they don't come up? What if the seeds don't grow? What a WASTE that would be. Not just a waste of money, but a waste of time. We planted 1,800 tiny pink corn seeds all by hand. How frustrated we would be if they don't produce a crop.

What does God think when seed does not produce fruit? What does He think when it is choked out?

I cannot assume that I am good soil.

truth: God is good

Do you believe that God is good?

The new book on my nightstand is Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy discusses 40 common lies that many women tend to believe. Lie #1: God is not really good. The real truth is: God IS good. Before starting this section I thought, Oh, this one should be easy. I know that God is good. As a kid, I prayed the "God is great, God is good, and we thank you for the food..." prayer at mealtime. Of COURSE I know that God is good. I grew up with that baseline truth.

What tempts me to question God's goodness? In my relatively easy life, it's hard to find an answer. After all, my struggles, disappointments, and pain are pretty minute compared to some. Even if I claim to know that God is good, there are many times that my attitude of worry, stress, selfishness, etc. is not indicative of believing that truth.

HOW do I know that God is good? The Bible teaches it, and God proves it. Everything He made is good (1 Tim. 4:4). His love endures forever (2 Ch. 7:3). God is good and what He does is good (Ps. 119:68). His Name is good (Ps. 52:9). He gives good gifts (Matt. 7:11). ...just to name a few... And if that isn't proof enough, read Ephesians 1:3-14. Do what Nancy suggests: make a list of all the blessings God has given to us from this passage.

• He has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
• He chose us to be holy and blameless.
• He adopted us.
• He gives us grace freely - Jesus, His Son!
• And through Jesus, we have redemption, forgiveness, grace with wisdom and understanding.
• He revealed the mystery of His will to us.
• He works things out for us according to His will.
• He marked us with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

And WHAT ARE WE COMPLAINING ABOUT?!?! Why IN THE WORLD would my attitude be bad?!?! TASTE and SEE that He is GOOD! (Psalm 34:8) It's TRUE! God is good! And I can't just say that flippantly. I want to live with that in the forefront of my mind.

Conclusion...

Joe Eaton, a man with spina bifida writes: "Both pain and pleasure are meant to point us to the same reality; namely, that Jesus Christ is infinitely beautiful and so much more than enough for our every need. Living for Him, even suffering for Him, is worth every moment of affliction! Why? Because Jesus shows you such beauty in pain, because He is there and He is carrying us through."

It's not about me.

Hannah Whitall Smith writes: "A great many things in God's divine providences do not look to the eye like goodness. But faith sits down before mysteries such as these, and says, 'The Lord is good, therefore all that He does must be good no matter how it looks. I can wait for His explanations.'"

spring images

one of my favorite grandpas

He'll be 90 in May.