Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade. (Mark 4:32)
Our little group sat around the kitchen island, devouring homemade pizza and getting to know our new friends. Here, in a country far from home, we learned how a man and his wife walked the village roads, knocking on doors, teaching farming techniques, and inviting children to a weekly kids’ club. One little girl responded. Her choice brought condemnation, but she persisted and learned the good news of the kingdom of God, available to all who believe in Jesus.
The girl—the first believer in her village—is now grown, with a vibrant, persistent faith and a shared belief with her immediate family. She continues the couple’s first journey on the village roads up the mountain, and a neighboring mountain village as well, walking, knocking on doors, teaching English and the stories of Jesus. The couple had no idea when they began their sowing which seed would be received and grow. They scattered the seed of God’s gospel news to everyone they met. And the little girl, the small one, flourished. Her faith in this unknown God proved to others that he was worth following, that he could be trusted, that they could find shelter in his shade.
God invites us to scatter his seed, see where it lands, and watch as it springs up, sometimes in the unlikeliest of places, among the least of these. Sow with him and see.
Not knowing where God’s scattered seed will take root, sow anyway.
Jamie Hilty is a Wesleyan pastor’s kid. She currently serves with her pastor-husband in Goshen, Indiana, and has served as a contributing writer for Annesley Writer’s Forum.
© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
