Lord send the Rain - Part 4
Deuteronomy 11:13-17
Another point that we must not ignore is the phrase found in Genesis 1:12, which says, “ whose seed was in itself, after his kind.” When God called the fruit bearing trees forth, one important thing that He did was to put the seed in the tree so that it could reproduce and keep in existence. It also said that it would produce after his kind. God has done the same thing with us.
Look at it like this, when a man and a woman have a child together, the process goes the same way as the trees. The man’s seed is placed in the woman, and the woman’s womb is the soil where the seed will grow. As long as the woman takes care of the seed, eventually the fruit comes forth as a child. The child will have characteristics of the man and the woman, and they will produce after their kind. God made man out of the dust of the ground according to Genesis 2:7, He places seeds in us. We are the soil where the seeds will grow. As long as we take care of the seed, water it, cultivate it, and expose it to light, it will grow.
For example, have you ever had an idea that you never acted upon? That was a seed that God planted in you. If you never acted upon it how did you expect it to grow? For years the Lord had placed in my spirit to write this book, but until I committed to the seed, watered it, cultivated it and exposed it to the light, it did not grow, and I did not write.
Too many people have aborted the seed that God has given them simply because
they have given up on their idea, or they are too lazy to act upon it. You will produce
after your kind regardless of what it is. So if you are lazy, you will produce after your
kind, if you give up, you will produce after your kind, and if you are determined, you
will produce after your kind. Take the seeds God has given you, and grow them. Do
what the scriptures says in Genesis 1:28, “be fruitful and multiply” and produce after your own kind.
Confirmation
The second point we will discuss regarding grass is confirmation. Grass is
confirmation of growth. Growing grass is confirmation that the conditions are right for growth. Remember our scripture in Genesis 1:9-11 which says;
“ 9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
The very first thing that God called forth was the grass. Grass can grow almost anywhere. When grass is growing that means the right conditions are in place for growth. The seed that God has given you must be placed in the right conditions in order to grow. What are the right conditions? The right conditions are the right soil, the right amount of light, and certainly the right amount of rain.
First you must have the right soil. Read St. Matthew 13:3-9, the parable of the sower.
“3And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
The parable of the sower gives us great insight as to how the process works regarding seeds in our life. The sower sowed the seeds, but the determining factor was the environment that the seed fell into. There was nothing wrong or defective about the seed, it was the environment. The environment affects the growth of the seed.
The first seeds fell by the wayside. Notice what happens to these seeds. The seeds fell. They didn’t land, they were not planted, but they simply fell. When you fall you have to get up, and keep trying. Where did they fall? They fell by the wayside. The seeds were victims of the greatest seed-destroying trait that so many of us suffer from called procrastination.
You just got too busy, or you never had the time, or you just never got around to getting it done, and your seed never grew. You put it off so long that your seed, your idea, your dream has fell by the wayside. Things that are put out of the way are soon forgotten. Have you ever hid things and forgot where you hid them? You have hid your seed, your idea, your dreams, your love, your happiness, your inspiration, and your determination for so long that you have forgotten where you hid it. You have literally hid it from yourself. This is the greatest danger of procrastination. Once the seeds fell by the wayside, the birds came, devoured them, and flew away with the seeds in their belly.
Procrastination will devour your seed, and then fly away with your seed in its belly Many times I have had ideas that I did not act upon and then saw it somewhere else and said to myself, “I had thought of that.” Procrastination will devour your ideas and your dreams. When it comes to your seed “Don’t talk about it, but be about it!”
The next environment that seeds fell upon was the stony places where they had not much Earth. This is the second greatest seed-destroying trait that we suffer from., and it is called lack of commitment. These seeds fell upon hard places and hard times. They still produced, but because they had no roots, they didn’t last. You have to be commitment to your seed. By now you should have figured out that that your seeds are your ideal, your dreams, your inspirations, your loves, etc. Sometimes your seeds fall on hard times, and unless you are fully committed to your seeds, they will not grow.
Just planting the seeds is not enough, the conditions and environments must be right as well. You must be fully committed. Sometimes you can be too hardheaded, or too stubborn to listen. That’s the same analogy as seeds falling on stony places. Here’s the danger of lack of commitment. Because your seed has no root, and has not really taken hold of you, you are not seriously deeply rooted and committed to it. The moment things get tough, or get a little hot; your seed dies and withers away.
The third environment that seeds fell among was the thorn. The thorns came up before the seeds. The scripture says that the thorns sprung up, and choked them. This brings us to the next area of concern, which is criticism. Ever notice when you have a good idea, or attempt to do something positive how many people spring up and try to choke the life out of your efforts? They will criticize everything you do, and when they can’t find anything else to criticize they make it personal and criticize you. They make comments to try and tear down your self-esteem, and assassinate your character. Just like thorns, the comments and criticisms hurt, but you have to learn to forge ahead regardless of what people think or say.
I believe many men are guilty of this with women. When men can’t control women, one of the first things they do is to try and tear down her self-esteem. He’ll make little sarcastic comments, and will attack her looks, her weight, her hair or some other area that she takes pride in. Just like thorns, the comments prick at our heartstrings, and if we are not careful we will let someone else speak negativism into our life. If you listen to that foolishness long enough, you will start to believe it, questioning and second-guessing yourself.
There is beauty in everything the Lord made, and sometimes you have to remind and encourage yourself in the Lord, just like King David. You don’t need any man or woman to tell you how you look. You already know it. Pull yourself together, put a smile on your face, get your hair done, put on something nice, and celebrate you. You have been helping everyone else feel good about themselves, but what about you?
Some of us have lived among the thorns for so long that we got lost in them. The problem is you are not a thorn; you just live with one. You are a rose waiting to blossom. It’s not what people say you are but it is what you say you are. Stop listening to the critics who never do anything except criticize, and listen to the seed. It’s trying to grow into something. Listening to the critics is just as crazy as a nine-month pregnant woman listening to someone telling her she’s not pregnant. Her belly sticks all the way out, and someone says, “Girl you are not pregnant, you are just gaining a little weight.” That’s just crazy, and God didn’t call you to craziness, so stop listening to it.
Maybe the reason people are attacking and criticizing you so is because they can see that God has impregnated you with a great gift; with a great voice, a great idea, or extraordinary skills, and they are simply jealous of what God has given you, and not them. No one deserves to be treated badly, and the worst part of the storm is being in the midst of it. I have found in life that the greatest blessings come on the other side of the storm. Maybe the time has come for you to get your seeds out of the thorns.
Finally, there were the seeds that fell on good ground. These are the seeds that fell in the right place at the right time, and had the right results. These seeds had to go through some rain, but also received light. When your seed is in the right environment, and has been through the storms and rains, has received the right light, the results are blessed. The blessing comes sometimes a hundred fold, sixty, or thirty fold, but they come. When we see people who are successful, we see the harvest, but what we don’t see is the struggle they went through to get there.
