Planting Dreams
"What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first." 1 Corinthians 15:36
"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires" (Psalm 37:4).
In the process of replanting our landscape after the great Texas freeze this past February, I decided it would be nice to have some lavender as I am fond of both the color and the fragrance. I looked at two different varieties: Hidcote blue lavender and Munstead lavender. They were about the same price and relatively the same color, but one reviewer on a well-known seed website posted about seed germination rates. This reviewer had 35% germination with the Hidcote blue lavender and 50% germination with the Munstead lavender. So I decided that the Munstead was the right choice for our yard.
When the seeds arrived, they were so tiny--they were almost nonexistent. I planted them with care and watched them each and every day, concerned for the high winds and heavy rain we were receiving of late.
Day after day I checked them and nothing.
A week went by, and I only saw a couple of weeds to pull. The second week there was more rain and still no lavender leaves. The third week it was the same.
Finally, the fourth week I began to see the little green leaves begin to emerge and the promise of beautiful, colorful, fragrant lavender begins from these tiny seeds.
Since God has been speaking to my heart lately about dreams, I believe He was using these precious plants to teach me yet again--this time about dreams.
As a little girl, I dreamed of being a zoologist, a nurse, a teacher, a writer, an actress, a wife, a mother, a missionary, and the list went on. As I grew in my relationship with Jesus, I learned that I must place all of my dreams on His altar and allow them to die there. Much like the lavender seeds, I have to let them die before they can live. And, while not every one of our dreams will germinate, the ones God has for us surely will.
Sometimes it takes these dreams a very long time to be, and we can become discouraged, but we must keep hope and faith alive, knowing that God has the very best plans for you and for me. And, we mustn't despise the small beginnings of these dreams, either (Zechariah 4:10), but carefully tend and weed those that sprout to live for His glory. Much like our tiny lavender seeds, the human eye often fails to see all that God is doing beneath the soil.
Proverbs 19:21 tells us, "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."
Do you have some dreams to place on God's altar? Don't be afraid. He will make the garden more beautiful than you or I ever could.
Goodnight, Runners.
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