When Things Are Out Of Our Hands

When Things Are Out of Our Hands

Samantha Evilsizer

After several hours of mixing soil and hunching over garden beds, we arched our aching backs, brushed the smudges of soil from our arms, and surveyed our work. We had planted over two hundred seeds of twelve different vegetables. We had done everything we could. What those seeds did now—whether or not they grew—was out of our hands.

The hidden work of seeds is among the Bible’s most vivid metaphors for spiritual growth. I was reminded of this recently when I received an email from an old friend.

Javier and I were neighbors in college. We spent lazy afternoons watching movies and cheering at football games. When I took guitar lessons, Javier taught me chords. We simply enjoyed hanging out together, but I’m sorry to say I rarely talked to him about my faith.

In the years since graduation, Javier and I have kept in touch sporadically, but I was amazed when I read this recent email from him:

Sam, I wanted to thank you for being in my life in college. I came to Christ about four years ago. Lately, I’ve been looking back on my life and thinking of people who were examples I wanted to follow. Even though we hardly talked about God, I knew you were a Christian and really admired that about you. Talk about planting a seed that didn’t bear fruit right away! I was ten years in the making. I am glad I am able to tell people like you how important they were in helping me to find Christ.

My heart leapt at his words. I never expected them. But the promise of Scripture is that if we’re faithful to sow seeds into others, God will be faithful to nurture those seeds into a relationship with Him (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Have you prayed for a loved one’s salvation? Or sought God’s favor to restore your child, parent, spouse, or sibling to Him? Maybe you’ve planted every seed you can think of. Gotten on your knees. Shared verses. Given a Bible. Yet no sprout is appearing from the hard ground of your loved one’s heart.

I wish I could say that I’d planted some intentional seeds with Javier: invited him to Bible study; welcomed him to prayer group; chosen the latest worship song to learn together on the guitar. These are wonderful ideas, but they weren’t the seeds I planted. Instead, I simply lived out my daily relationship with Jesus. Some days my example was more stellar than others but, for better or worse, seeds were planted. Day by day, Javier saw me trusting, hoping, and finding joy in the Lord.

I don’t know how much you’ve prayed, or what seeds you’ve planted. I do know this: when we faithfully plant seeds, the Lord honors that. He’ll bring others around our loved one to water seeds we’ve sown. And most importantly, He’ll make them grow. When the results are out of our hands, we can trust them in His.

Dear Lord, thank You for caring about my loved one’s salvation.
Please use me to plant seeds, bring others to water, and I trust that You will cause them to grow. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

REMEMBER

When the results are out of our hands, we can trust them in His.

REFLECT

Why is it difficult to trust that a loved one will come to know the Lord?

RESPOND

Who in your life doesn’t know the Lord? Plant a seed today by sharing a specific example of God’s faithfulness in your own life and telling this person He can do the same in their life too.

POWER VERSES

Matthew 5:16; Romans 15:13