The Seed in the Soil

The Lord was growing my faith, but the invitation to “be still” was becoming more and more evident as I started reading about the parable of growing seed in Mark 4:26-29:

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

God can be doing something under the surface that you don't even understand. This is what it means to be a person of faith—it's to know that somehow, someway it's going to work together for good.

Our challenge as a people of faith is to synchronize our faith with God's timing. A harvest might look late, but once a seed is planted it will always produce on schedule. Can the seed of my faith survive the soil... survive the wait? 

I realized I wasn’t there yet. I was praising God publicly, but privately I couldn’t say like the 3 Hebrew boys, “Yes God I know You can, but even if You don’t...” I will still praise You. Studying their story more deeply, I came to understand that God wanted me to have a faith that stood firm even if I was left confused, bewildered and disappointed. I wanted to trust God completely with the outcome. I wanted the resolve of Daniel who fasted to better interpret dreams. The resolve of Paul and Silas singing in prison and others becoming saved by God’s deliverance. The resolve of the Hebrew boys who made an unyielding decision to step into a fiery furnace where God saved them only once they stepped in and not a moment before. I knew God wanted to me to say yes to His refining fire in my own life and step in.

Lord, You are so gentle in your beckoning me into the fire. Into a faith that says "no matter what" and "even if You don't"—I will keep praising You. This place is so scary for me. You are lovingly, yet firmly pulling my heart there. Help me to submit to the fire, Father.But there was something more too, and it wasn't about or for me. The Lord showed me how the miracle of the furnace paved the way for King Nebuchadnezzar's conversion.

To the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth: May you prosper greatly! It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation. (Daniel 4:1-3)

Others will witness what God does in mine and James' life. How amazing this thought was while I prayed over family and friends who don't personally know the Lord. It made me so excited to think about how they might see a miracle, praise the Lord with us, and make Him the one and only Lord of their lives.I prayed: Lord, thank You for this vivid example of life change. More than answering this prayer for my good, You desire to bring the lost into Your arms as your beloved sons and daughters. I'm praying for the day. Have Your way, God!

Longing for God to deliver on His promise to me, I decided to fast through September 2016. This was a month of dying to self, surrender, becoming aware of my inadequacies and His provision. Others in my tribe began to fast for needs of their own, and together we prayed “For Your name’s sake, Lord answer us.” The Refiner’s Fire was painful, but purposeful. I felt the Lord with me daily:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. (Isaiah 43:2)

Around this time, Elevation Church was hosting a revival event and the messages couldn’t have been more timely: the Red Sea, the 3 Hebrew boys, being in the valley of darkness, dying to self, facing battles, being pressed on all sides, and on and on. The Good Shepherd was telling me “You thought I was going to bring you out of this valley, but watch what happens when I go in.”

I studied the word "refine" throughout the scriptures, following the breadcrumb cross references wherever they led.

This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” (Zechariah 13:9)

They will call and I will answer...

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)

These [trials] have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:7)

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (1 Peter 5:10)

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)

The Message version of Job 23:10 was rich as well: "But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous]."

For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. (Psalm 66:10-12)

Everyone will be salted with fire. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” (Mark 9:49-50)

Every Christian in this life can expect to undergo the fire of suffering and purification. This is purposeful. The place of abundance comes after the place of fire. Other phrases for "salty": seasoned, a taste enhancer, light to the world, valuable, adding divine flavor, pure, counteracting corruption... Oh how I want to be salty, Lord!

God will use everything we go through to bring about our good and His purposes. Along the way, we'll find ourselves changing. We'll see the fruit that starts complimenting what were once just leaves.

Psalm 105:18 (AMPC) says: His (Joseph's) feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in chains of iron and his soul entered into the iron. Joseph hurt so bad that the chains on him became part of his soul. We might go through hell on earth, but by God's grace we will come out stronger for it.

From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. (Galatians 6:17)

Father, I'm learning that I will get to know you better by hanging onto You through a midnight hour. When it's nobody but me and You. You know right where I am and what I need. Instead of asking You to get me out of this situation, I ask You to come into it. I will trust You to bring me out at the right time. In the meantime, put a little more iron and grit in my soul.

As the days and weeks of fasting went on with no sign of change, I fluctuated between clarity and confusion, and knew a battle was being waged in the spirit realm. Things unseen were taking place. The seed of my faith was in the soil.