Inspiration for Everyone
Planting the Seeds of Faith
By Lisa Whidden
If you are like me, you believe God can do the impossible. He can comfort you, help you in times of need, and yes, hear you when you pray. We see this in the scripture 2 Corinthians 1:24:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, a about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
But God cannot do all the work himself. It is important to prepare for his blessings. In 2 James: 17; it say In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. When preparing for God’s blessings, it requires faith to be put into action. It’s not enough to simply say you’re ready to receive God’s blessings, and yet do nothing to receive them.
Blessings are a funny thing to receive. Sometimes we are so impatient; we do not see his good works. So let me give you a brief background on my own struggles in life:
I lived a particularly challenging life. When I was born, I hit the genetic lottery of health issues. By the time I was 4, I was diagnosed with extreme tibial torsion (hips were not aligned right). It took four years of countless painful surgeries on my legs, which at the time, many performed were experimental which made it even more painful to endure. Because of this, there are many scars and as I’ve grown older, it has caused arthritis in the knees and legs. But my parents were very thankful and praised God for his good works since I was able to walk and play, which was impossible before the surgeries.
Then our home was hit with another struggle. Cancer! About six months after my last surgery on my legs, I became very sick. My mother and father admitted me to the hospital and I was officially diagnosed with cancer of the jaw muscle, which eventually moved into the bone and skin tissue. The doctors made a plan with my parents to do a surgery they thought at the time would cure the problem. My mom and dad stayed steady in their faith and prayed to God this would go away quickly with the surgeries they set up. It did not. It took 32 surgeries and countless chemo treatments. Many times my family prepared for my passing, but by the time I was 14, the cancer was successfully removed (completely). This is a perfect example of God’s mercy. He not only allowed me to survive, but allowed me to grow up and have children of my own. The scripture says in John 14:14 you may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. And he did! However, I want to give advice on how my parents stayed steady in their faith even though it took years and years for them to receive the blessing they were asking for:
The first step is to become your own personal gardener. I know this may be a weird analogy, but bear with me.
You must plant seeds in the ground. The seeds with be various but will always include a seed for purposes for devotion, patience, and dedication to your own spiritual faith. It is you, and only you, who can build your relationship with God. But beware! Be careful on what you are asking for. If you want to become a millionaire and pray very hard for it, then you need to meet him half way in planting the seed of knowledge in the ground by educating yourself on how to obtain the wealth. If pray for a house, your seed might include researching the housing market and finding out what credit score is needed to get approved for a mortgage loan. If you are asking for a miracle for a health issue, you may want plant the seed of research and hit the library for books, microfiche, videos, or even web research on multiple cures or medical staffs throughout the world which can help you. It takes a lot of work on your end, but if you meet him half way, this is the only way you can prepare for the blessing he has to offer. My parents researched multiple hospitals, doctors, and practically lived at the library researching each and every health issue the doctors shared with them, so they could offer questions and suggestions to medical staff, which actually went a long way in my recovery.
The next step is to tend and water your seeds you planted. Watering encourages growth and tending the seeds of your prayers will encourage growth of the expectations you expect to receive. This is the part that can be frustrating because sometimes it takes an extended amount of time to see real results. If there is no growth in your goal or prayer you are asking for, then maybe the seed you are growing need a bit more attention. We can do this all through faith.
Nothing is impossible! But it is important to work on faith. We can see this through Hebrews 11:6: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. If you take action on knowledge and work in life and have faith in the scripture, God promises us an outcome. We can see this in Hebrew 11:40: Since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. These blessings are all brought on by faith. It is important to be patient though, and not question his work. Remember your goals, and remind yourself daily why you’re doing a particular task. If you do not see the work God is doing beneath the surface, you may get discouraged. Remember, it may be us who plants the seeds in the ground in expectation of a harvest, but it is God who determines when we will see results.
But when you do see results, even in the smallest form, it is important to be sure not only to give thanks to God, but to give back too: Second Corinthians 2:8-9 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.
