The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field… Matt 13:31 (NKJV)

That Seed – Parables Series 3 – Part 6

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4 |  PART 5

(OR go to Parable Series 1 or Parable Series 2)

At some point in our lives, our dreams, hopes, visions and goals must be put to action. Otherwise, they simply stay dreams, hopes, visions and goals. You can have a mustard seed, but you will never get a mustard plant unless you take that tiny seed and go out into your garden, dig a hole, pop it in, cover it back up, and then leave it well enough alone.

For years, I’ve had the dream of becoming a writer. It’s been a tiny seed within me. A gift. But for a long time, I’ve kept that seed in a jar, tucked away on the top shelf. I’ve thought, “I’d really like to be a writer…” but never got that seed out and planted it in the ground. Until a few years ago… when we started Pocketfuel. These past few years have been like planting that seed in the ground and then standing back to see what will grow.

It’s been wonderful. And it's been terrifying.

We keep our talents and gifts and ideas and unique selves hidden, untried and untested, small and seed-like, away from the world, for fear of failure, ridicule and separation. The soil is an unknown quantity for many of us. So we keep our seeds safe. But when they are safe, they are also dormant.

When Jesus told his disciples not long before his death, “The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life! But the one who detaches his life from this world and abandons himself to me, will find true life and enjoy it forever!” He didn’t mean that we have to hate our life and this world, to think nothing of our own lives and abandon our loves and passions and desires to a narrow and punitive view of eternity. He was talking about fear versus curiosity, isolation versus belonging, pride versus generosity, withholding versus wonder.

When we keep what we've been given to ourselves; when we put our seed on the top shelf and look at it every day and remark about how pretty it is and how wonderful it is, day by day it loses its potential to grow. The gold within in it that we cannot yet see is missed. But when we have the courage to take that seed, step out in faith, walk through our fear and release our gifts into the world – plant our seeds into the soil – abandoning our gift to its own growth; right there is where we begin to find real life.

There are levels of uncertainty and elements of risk to planting seeds. We can’t see what happens underneath the surface. To a point, we have little control over how the seed is received, how much it will grow, and when it will grow. But faith tells us that it will.

We cannot manufacture our own transformation. We cannot keep ourselves hidden away and somehow conjure up a life well lived, a life of growth. We have to give ourselves to the process, step through fear and into faith and plant our seeds, giving way to the mystery of life, growth and connection.

I have no idea where my writing will take me. I don’t even know how and when it will grow. But slowly, day by day, year by year, little shoots appear. As I give myself to the work, put myself out there and surrender to the Divine and unique call of God that has been woven into me even before my conception, life blooms within me that otherwise would have been stagnant and dormant, locked up in a dream, a seed, a hope that I did not have the courage to plant. That eternal seed is blooming within me – The Kingdom of heaven here and yet still coming.

What is your seed? What makes life spark within you? What is it that you're scared to reveal about yourself for fear of failure, or even, for fear of success? Don’t hide that away in a jar, for the love of God friend, plant that seed, do the work, run your race, and watch that thing bloom.

Go to Part 7 – Branches

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