WEEK ONE: GROWING

Over the past couple of years, my family has gotten into gardening, raising our own vegetables and such. As part of the process, we have saved seeds from previous years to use as a starter for plants for the following season. We soak the seeds in water for several days to jump start the germination process, and then when they are ready, a couple of each type of seed is planted in good soil in a small starting tray. For days, we painstakingly make sure those pots are getting the correct amount of water and sunlight to give those seeds the best chance of growing. After what seems like a long time, tiny little green plants will poke through the dirt and then the next step of the process begins. At a certain point of growth, those plants are then moved into larger pots until they can be planted outside. This gives them the best chance of becoming and producing what we hoped for.

Sometimes our faith feels much like this growing process. We start out on a faith journey, excited for the change in our lives… but because of life, we can feel like our faith is so small and our lives so insignificant that it doesn’t really amount to much. But what if that small faith is just the start of something big? What if we started looking at our faith like those seeds that were saved to start new plants?

Your faith starts with just one small step. It is (for the most part) unseen. But given the right environment, the right care, and the right practices, it can develop into something amazing.  Unfortunately, too often when we aren’t seeing what we want, we just throw away or abandon our faith. We are expecting something different than what we are experiencing in that moment, and we assume God isn’t doing anything, so we stop. But God’s work is often unseen at first. Just like those seeds that get planted in starter pots, our faith is being developed in the unseen. Just because we aren’t seeing immediate results, that doesn’t mean that God isn’t working. We wouldn’t throw those tiny plants away because they aren’t big enough. We nurture them, care for them, and allow them to develop. God wants to do the same for you.

Put yourself in the proper environment. Nurture yourself in God’s Word and in prayer. Trust that God is working even in the small beginnings. Stay faithful and patient in spiritual growth. Invest in the eternal rather than in the immediate. Imagine if we stopped measuring life by what we see immediately and instead trusted that God is growing something bigger than we ever imagined. The Kingdom of God is growing, and you and I are invited to be part of it. Will you trust the process, be patient, and plant your faith in Jesus?