Scatter the Seed

The evergreen continues to be a source of lessons for this seeker of Jesus through Nature. I often wonder why God, through His infinite ways that He teaches me, decides to stand before me in His Creation and write on the chalkboard of the sky, soil, or anything that He says, "Grow" and it grows.  I love that it's almost taken me a month to write down all that He has taught me through the evergreens, but I know there's purpose in that as well.  By taking my time to write down what He teaches me, my heart lingers on it much longer.  Isn't that the way we desire it with Jesus?  I don't want to rush to the next thing that He's teaching me.  I want to make sure I've totally grasped the lessons in THIS moment.  

So, back to the evergreen.  

As Mike and I hiked through the hills of Breckenridge, CO, my eyes kept fixing themselves on the evergreens  

 everywhere.  All sizes.  All heights.  Some inches away from others.  Some feet away from others.  I don't begin to be able to figure out our God, but I do know a little about seed scattering, so as Mike was chattering some nonsense about gold mining or what bakery we were going to try next, my mind was thinking about seeds and how God scatters and grows them. 


Something that I have had to learn and relearn about seeds, plants, and fruit is that all I have to do is surrender to the growth, and most importantly, i am only the fruit hanger.  I never produce the fruit.  Jesus always produces it in me.

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control."  (Gal. 5:22)

"Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.  This who remains in Me and I in them, will produce much fruit.  For apart from Me you can do nothing."  (John 15:4)

But what happens to the pinecones full of seeds?  They eventually drop to the ground and scatter to be replanted and made into something new, to grow something new.

I see our lives like I see the cones full of seeds.  We are influencers of people's lives both in positive and negative ways.  There are things in my life that I have regretted that I wished hadn't planted seeds, but they did.  But I also know that there are seeds for the gospel that each of us have that are meant to be sown, meant to be shared with the world.  We are made to make a difference wherever we are.  Never belittle your influence in this life.  You were made for wherever God has put you to be a mouthpiece, a comforter, a listener, or a friend to another.  Your pouring yourself out, allowing yourself to drop into the soil of another's life so that you can influence and be a seed that grows something new for God's Kingdom MATTERS.  You may never be present to see the growth or the change, but rest assured, the God of the universe uses vessels everyday to grow and multiply His Kingdom, and you are one of many.  Embrace the fruit that you were meant to hang, to plant, to grow, to harvest.  It matters.