WHEN I CAN’T SEE THEM CHANGING
Christine Wyrtzen
The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.I opened my mouth wide and panted. Psalm 119:130-131
Some are called to plant spiritual seeds and to take the Gospel to remote parts of the earth. Others are to come along behind to water what’s been planted. We who are called to water others seeds are the majority.
I talked with a mother yesterday who is heartbroken that her adult son is so far from Christ. She is reading the prayer every day over him that God led me to write about a week ago. She is not alone in her grief, is she? Every one of us loves someone in whom the seed was planted long ago but shows no signs of becoming tender toward Christ. We can easily despair and lose hope. But seeds are just that. Seeds. Out of sight. Beneath the soil. They are there but just not visible yet. And, they need watering. If I despair and abandon the process of spiritual gardening, I won’t hasten the work of God in their lives.
God promises that if I speak the Word of God over the lives of people and into desperate situations, it will not return void. I have spiritual dynamite in my hands in the form of the Word of God but if I never speak it or pray it, I will never see my garden flourish. When I see nothing but brown soil, it is not the time to quit! It is the time to till, cultivate, and use my mouth to, either plant, or water what is already there. Every prayer I've prayed, every scripture I've spoken by faith, these acts are not in vain.
“Is not my Word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jer. 12:29 Hearts of stone are broken, warmed, reshaped and transformed into hearts of flesh only one way. Through the speaking of the Word.
Who am I to declare anyone hopeless? I've planted the Word of God in their lives yet I don’t see any evidence that the seeds are changing them. In faith, I still water them. I abandon the illusion that I am speechless in my pain. Speaking Your Word is a way of life and as I water the seeds with Your Word, please bring vistas of green where there is only a brown wilderness. I wait for You with tears and faith. In Jesus' name, Amen
Originally published Friday, 10 August 2018.
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