Has there even been a time in your life when you felt as if you were making no progress at all? A time when you felt that regardless of how many steps forward you made something seemed to hold you hostage, hindering your growth and/or pushing you so far back that all of your efforts seemed worthless? I must confess…those were my exact emotions while driving to the office one day. Instead of reflecting for inner peace and celebrating where I had come from, I was disappointed, frustrated, and discouraged with how far it seemed I had to go. I had allowed my view to distort my vision. Too often, when I set extremely high expectations for myself and my endeavors, the spirit of perfectionism plagues me; and subsequently, when it appears that I am falling short of those expectations, anger and resentment are the fruit of that frustration. As I sat in the business meeting that day, despondent and dejected, the Holy Spirit spoke to my soul and changed my perception of my progress. Addressing our team, Al, my husband and business partner, made a statement that caused my spirit to leap. He said, “We are building in the dirt.”
There were so many revelations that accompanied that statement. I made it person, “I am building in the dirt,” and meditated on those words for the majority of the afternoon. Let me take some time and share some of the revelations I received with you. I pray that it encourages you, my fellow dirt dweller…Consider yourself a seed!
One: PLANTING
When a farmer desires a particular harvest or crop, he/she plants seeds into soil or dirt. The type of seed determines the time of planting, soil conditions, sunlight exposure, water frequency, and expected time for germination and sprouting to yield the maximum harvest. It is important for farmers to know the specificity of these requirements so that their efforts will not be in vain. Without being planted at the proper seasonal time, even the best soil conditions, light exposure, water, and cultivation will still render the seed’s time in the dirt fruitless.
For example, the farmer who desires oranges does not go to Alaska to plant orange seeds with an expectation of a great harvest. Why? Because the farmer knows that Alaska’s weather conditions are not conducive for the orange seed’s growth. Since the farmer desires a fruitful harvest or return on his/her efforts, the farmer plants the seed in the part of the earth that will assist in the growth of every planted seed.
Consider yourself a planted seed!
We are seeds that have been planted in this earth. God, our Farmer, knows exactly where to plant us in this earth to yield a fruit-full harvest. The particular sperm that met the specific egg to create you was not an accident. Therefore, the parents you have and the family you were earthed through was not a mistake. Furthermore, the neighborhood you grew up in, the high school/college you attend or attended, the boyfriends/girlfriends you had, the ones who left, the person you married, the job you have, the ones you quit or lost…all of this is part of the soil God has allowed you to be planted in for maximum growth of each seed that has been divinely planted in you. Don’t despise you dirt! These soil conditions have been prepared for your planting and more importantly for your growth.
Consider yourself a seed with seeds!
It is important for us to understand that God has planted seeds within each of us. Each seed is a gifting or talent that when cultivated and nurtured will grow to its fullest in Christ Jesus and produce an earth changing Kingdom harvest. In Deuteronomy 8:18, it states that God has given us koah (power and ability) to gain wealth.
Consider a peach that contains a peach seed, and every peach seed has the koah (power and ability) to produce an orchard of peach trees that will produce a harvest of peaches. Moreover, the harvested peaches house seeds that have the potential to produce more peach trees and so on. So where does our wealth or prosperity lay – inside of us in seed form. It is our responsibility to co-labor with God, our Farmer, to produce and bring forth a harvest in our lives.
Selah! Think on these things until…
© 2011 Julianne Pearson
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