LIFE as a SEED PLANTER

One of my missions as a writer, parent, leader, friend, Christ-follower, and caring individual is to plant seeds. Each seed is true to its own nature. When it grows, it matures and bears fruit. Some plants grow faster than others. Christ-followers plant a lot of seeds in their lifetime. Sometimes the seed takes and grows, and sometimes it doesn’t. I see things that concern me, but I can’t plant the seed until it’s the right time.

My farmer dad always said that it’s easy to be a farmer. He said, you only need to know three things. (!!!) What to do. When to do it, and How to do it. That tidbit of wisdom is true for many things. I know it is true in education. You can’t hammer facts into student’s brains when they don’t know the steps that lead up to it. You can’t teach multiplication facts until they’ve mastered addition and subtraction.

A seed planter knows what, when, and how. First the soil is prepared to receive the seed. As Christians, we do this through prayer, conversations, spending time together, reading the word, sharing Christ and whatever God brings along. We pray for opportunities to share, where God makes a way, an opening, to say something spiritually meaningful.

The art of knowing when or when not to speak is a skill refined by the Spirit. Our words flow forth in power when the Spirit of God goes before us, preparing the way for us to speak. At times, our silence says more than our words. We communicate best when we have learned to listen well and respond accordingly.

Twitter Exchange with Sy Garte

Sy Garte is a biochemist scientist, a former atheist turned Christian. He is somewhat new to the faith. God drew him in through curiosity and circumstances. He was raised by communists that didn’t entertain there being a God. Sy has written a book entitled The Works of His Hands and this is my review. His book can be purchased here on Amazon. He also is on several YouTube interviews.

One day I saw Sy’s tweet and took the opportunity to ask him something I’d been thinking about for quite some time.

Twitter, March 10, 2022

SY’s original tweet:

“Dawkins told his followers to reject tolerance for religion, and be evangelists for atheism. Now many new atheists do just that on social media, sometimes with vicious attacks on believers. My own goal is to buttress the faith of Christians, not to attack or convert atheists.”

I respond:

“One can’t help but wonder why Dawkin’s felt and others feel so strongly. When you were an atheist, did you crusade against belief in God, against those who believed? Did you view it as some sort of war? Or were you passive (to each his own), not adamant or defensive nor on the offense.”

SY’s answer:

“Very good question, Norma. Neither I, nor any of the atheists I knew ever went on the attack against people of faith. That is part of what makes “new atheism” new. It has become a crusade, and a very strange one, since it’s not for anything, only against God.”

Sy has to block some atheists when they’re hostile, belligerent, demeaning and/or hateful. Yet, they can’t hear it if their minds can’t or won’t absorb the unwelcome thought. If they’re blocked in their thinking, if they’ve already decided and made their choice to not believe, if they’re happy being an unbeliever, then you learn to pray for openings. The gospel is foolishness to the unbeliever…until a window to their soul starts to open a smidgen.

That is why the soil must be prepared, the seed must be planted at the optimum time–not in the wintertime–in the springtime, in the growing season, when its warm and the sun penetrates the earth. Then the plant is nurtured, irrigated, and left to God to grow until harvest. The growing season is a time of the elements working together to produce a healthy crop. If the agricultural practices are not correctly done then the crop will be puny and weak. ‪

You see, maybe it’s something you said months or years before that is heard coming out of your child’s mouth. Then you know the seed took root, grew, flowered and is bearing fruit. Maybe it’s someone you’re sharing life with on a regular basis. There’s wait time involved, a time of suggesting, growing, learning, apprehending, and sorting through. We may get impatient, but God calls us to be faithful. Ultimately, it’s God who grows until harvest time, and it’s our job to help out.

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I wish you well on your spiritual journey.

My Spiritual Awakening

Developing an inner life with Christ at the center has made all the difference for me. This spiritual practice changed me. I was softening and growing. I was absorbing scripture as I read it. I was increasingly open and honest while reading the Word and seeking God’s face.

Scripture took on a new freshness. I was seeing things as I read that I had not seen before. My perspective altered, little by little. My prayer life took a new turn. My focus was on God as an entity close and personal, who was interested in my prayers, who desired my fellowship, who was engaged in my human struggle, my humanity.

A raw intimacy with God began to grow, borne of increasing familiarity with him and his ways. In a sense, it was like I was being rebirthed as God initiated his divine presence and holiness actively in my life.

Of course, I didn’t realize what was happening to me at the time. All I knew was I was hungry for God. Little did I know, God was awakening me. Everything was significant as things in my world took on new meaning. I was seeing them with new eyes, with the eye of faith.

The bursting bud, the flow’ring tree, … are miracles we all can see. A life can change, from cruel pain, like sunshine after rain. My heart believes in miracles. O, I believe in God” is how my mother’s mother, Faith Swihart Weigold, wrote it in a song she composed, one that my sisters and I sang as a trio (above picture) and am quoting from memory.

God is doing a beautiful miracle in our lives. We are wise when we embrace his loving touch. Pain comes as we see ourselves with honesty. He is making us new. He has to carve away the stuff that is a hindrance in us. We become more aware of our sin the closer we draw near to God. Then we can deal with it. We are becoming more spiritually sensitive. As a result, we are uncomfortable when our sin causes separation in our relationship. We miss our closeness with God. We will actively initiate steps to restore intimate fellowship with him.

How I see it, we learn, grow and “become” in layers. We also heal, layer by layer, through removing, cleansing, refreshing, embracing, and awakening. Sometimes we get hurt. What we do with our hurt is what matters in the long run. Something is always being discovered, then implemented in our spiritual journey.

Just thought I’d share a few thoughts with you that I’ve been pondering lately.

I wish you well on your spiritual journey.