Don’t Dig It Up

Recently, I was reading an article about an experiment that was performed by some elementary school children. During the experiment, they were told to use the bottom half of their milk cartons as a container for planting. The experiment involved them filling the bottom of their cartons with potting soil, planting a butter bean seed in the bottom of each carton, watering it, and placing the cartons in the window.

For the first three days or so, absolutely nothing appeared to have happened. On day four, some of the children noticed tiny bits of green sprouts showing in some of their boxes. By day six, most of the boxes had green sprouts, and some even had leaves showing---- all but one little boy.

For six days, he eagerly ran to the window to see what was happening to his seed and saw nothing but black dirt. In total frustration, he got to class early one morning and dug up the seed from the dirt. His teacher came in as he was removing the seed from the dirt and they both noticed that the seed had begun to sprout. The teacher told the little boy that he should have just waited, but since he removed his seed too soon he destroyed his harvest.

Sure enough the teacher was right! All the other children’s seeds grew up strong and tall, but this little boy’s did not. “Wow! What a powerful message,” I thought to myself.

How many of us, like this little boy, have given up on our seeds? How many of us in frustration have ripped up the very soil in which they were planted.

We get a word from the Lord, plant it deep in our hearts and began to confess it. Initially, when mountains arise in our lives, we take the seed of faith and plant it in the mountain.  After a short time, if we don’t see any manifestation, impatience sets in and the mountain seems bigger than it was originally. 

The seeds that we planted don’t appear to be showing any sprouts irrespective of what we do.  Others around us are being blessed, but absolutely nothing is happening in our situation. We begin to think and question our calling. “Did I really get this from God, or is it something I desired?” 

For a while if nothing continues to happen, we become discouraged and dig up our seeds through doubt and uncertainty, thus destroying our harvest. The scripture declares, “With patience, we possess our soul.” Simply stated, if we are patient and wait on God, believing what we desire will come to pass, we’ll get everything we need. Lord, help us to wait!

People, faith and patience go together. While we wait on things to change in our lives, we MUST keep believing. There is no way around it. Jesus told his disciples, “if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can speak to the mountains in life, and they will move out of their place.” (Matthew 17:20)

We must believe that God is, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him, and who believes that He is capable of doing just what is desired of Him. (Hebrews 11:6)  Sure enough while we wait on God, our faith will be tried, but we can’t dig it up through doubt and unbelief. Our harvest is about to come, but we dig up the very faith needed to help it produce.

The trials or trying of our faith worketh patience.” (James 1:3) When our faith is tested, we learn to persevere and endure. Not digging up our seeds requires patience.

What then is patience? Patience is one’s ability to endure delays in getting what they desire.  It is waiting without becoming annoyed or upset. It is persevering calmly in the face of difficulty.

Simply stated, good things come to those who wait.  It is so easy to give up and quit when trouble arises, but we must remember the seed (the Word of God) that was planted firmly in our hearts and allow it time to grow and blossom.

Becoming angry, bitter, anxious, and fearful is like the little boy who plucked up his seed and lost a great harvest. That husband, wife, son, daughter, boss, family member or friend for whom you are believing, are just a seed away from a miracle. With patience, they will sprout up and bloom. It (patience) is the water and sunlight needed to help things grow. With it, we will reap and enjoy an abundance of blessings.

From a spiritual standpoint, patience is one of man’s most valuable virtues. It is the work of the Spirit in the life of a believer. We are incapable of possessing it on our own. God has to aid us in our pursuit of patience.

In this fast paced world, we want everything done quickly. Our children are practically incapable of waiting, or so they think. God has humbling experiences He allows us to endure to bolster our ability to wait on Him. Trials, tests, human conditions, are all vehicles God allows to come our way in an effort to get us first, to call on Him and secondly, to wait for Him to answer.

On the subject of patience, I am moved to share with you an interesting point I gained in my study about patience which is far different from what we’ve been led to believe.  Although most people consider patience to be a passive waiting period or a gentle tolerance, the Greeks thought very differently. The Greek word for patience translated in the New Testament (KJV) means active, robust, which is vastly different from the sitting around and waiting that many people do.  Consider the following passage by Paul in reference to patience. “Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight………….and let’s run with patience the race that is set before us…” (Hebrews 12:1)

Now tell me does one run a race waiting on slow pokers and cheaters? Absolutely Not!!!! Patience referred to here means endurance. While running our race for perfection, we must be willing to endure, and not act to hastily. Patience reveals our faith in God’s timing, his power and his love.

A believer runs the race by persevering in hopes of a better day and to meet the Savior some day.

Unlike the little boy at the beginning, we must not give up nor pluck up our seeds through unbelief and impatience, but we must with firm faith believe in them in the midst or slow growth and seeming impossibilities.

Our God is worth the wait!                   

By Travestine J. Wright