Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Sowing the Seed

As I was thinking about this post, it occurred to me that it might seem to some of you (you know, since there are SO many of you reading) that God only speaks to me through Beth Moore. And I guess, even if He did, there wouldn't necessarily be anything wrong with that. She is definitely a vessel that He is currently using in my life (over the past year or so) and, oddly enough, I had not given her ministry a chance for many years. Reason being that I had unsuccessfully attempted one of her studies years ago. We had done it without having the videos and, quite honestly, I found it very difficult. Anyway, in the last year, I have completed "Living Beyond Yourself", "Breaking Free" and am currently working on "Stepping Up". God has used these studies in a mighty way in my life.

This week's lesson from "Stepping Up" has spoken loudly to me and I wanted to share that here and give Him praise and glory for who He is. I am so thankful that He cares enough about me to show me the way...again and again.

Beth shares in this lesson that she and her husband Keith went to Angola to do relief work with tens of thousands of malnourished and famished people. The conditions that they witnessed were indescribable.

She shares the following, "One of the most frustrating things is that in villages where they receive seed, they often eat the seed rather than planting it and bringing forth the harvest". This, of course, referred to LITERALLY eating a seed instead of sowing it and reaping the harvest. They ate it! And it filled their bellies...for a time. They were so desperate for something to eat, for a quick fill, that they didn't take the time to plant the seed and harvest it. How much more would they have had had they done this?

Beth couldn't stop thinking about this and felt that she had found answers to a couple of questions that had continually plaqued her. That being, "Why do some people see the results of the Word and others don't? Why do some study the Word of God yet remain in their captivity?

And there you have it....we eat it!!! And just like those villagers from Angola, it fills us up...for a time. Think about it...we hear the message, we clap, we sing, we praise, we "Amen", we leave feeling lifted up but what do we do with it? Simply being moved by a message isn't enough. And sometimes we don't even realize the difference. We think we accepted the teaching because we were so moved by it. But you see, the seed of God's word can fill our stomach's and give us immediate satisfaction and still not produce a harvest - that is because we eat it and don't sow it. I have to tell you, I am so convicted by this. How many times I have simply eaten the seed?

With this being said, I must remember that a harvest is not instantaneous. It takes time and "watering" (prayer, patience and faith) but, we must not become weary for the harvest will come at the proper time. Psalms126:5 says, "Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy". I am so thankful for this promise and have claimed it today....I will begin now to rest my vocal cords for the shouting that will soon take place.



3 comments:

Melissa Lee said...

Kelley,

Have I been under a rock somewhere? Why doesn't "Stepping Up" ring any bells with me? I have heard of everything Beth has done, but that one has slipped by me. Is it new?

Boy, the point your refer to is powerful. But it spoke to me in a completely different way than she was even relating it. But that's how you know you have a good "word" - when it speak to a multitude a people a multitude of ways.

Thanks for stopping by sometime. I enjoy hearing from you. Now get to work smocking my daughter something to wear. C'mon girl, all things are possible...

amanda said...

kelley,
thank you for sharing. i was so bummed that i had to miss tuesday's session, but we had no milk in the fridge and caleb & i needed some down time b/c of vbs this week.

keep up the good work!

Living to Love said...

Wow. This is the hard part of the our adoption journey. Sometimes I just feel jaded by the rollercoaster ride. Thanks for sharing. This was refreshing.