4 minute read
By Bethany Rees

I love the transition of winter to spring. 

For me it represents hope. 

During winter, most plants may seem dead, but they are in fact NOT dead...they are  just waiting on the sun of spring to bring them back to life again.

This transition between winter and spring also means that it’s time for me and my fellow gardeners to till the soil and start the seeds.

Have you ever thought about the transformation a seed goes through? 

It starts as a dried up shell of a plant. It is placed in a hole and covered with moist dirt and darkness. 

While sitting in its deepest, darkest hole, a seed doesn’t sit in despair though. 

The seed sits in hope of a better future. It sits….waiting on the warmth of the sun. 

As the warmth of the light shines, our buried seed begins to germinate, or awaken from its dormancy.  

As I planted several seeds for my garden, I had to ensure that they were planted in good soil.  The soil the seed is planted in makes a difference to how it receives its nutrients. 

However, not all seeds are alike. Each has their own depth and timing along their individual journey from dormancy to germination. 

Some seeds take between 6-8 days to germinate and sprout, while others can take anywhere from 10-21 days. 

My seedlings (pictured below) are at various levels of growth. Notice how some haven’t even cracked the surface while others stand tall and proud.  

These seeds are a beautiful representation of our spiritual lives and relationship with God. 

We can often experience a season of winter where our circumstances feel as though they cause our faith to go dormant. We feel like a shell of a person. 

But we’re not a shell, we’re a seed in dormancy. A dormant faith can have the look of a dead faith because there is no growth or fruit on the surface, but it’s not dead. 

A dormant faith is just temporarily inactive, and it needs more of the SON. 

Like my garden seeds, a dormant faith needs access to the nutrients (character and faith building) of the darkness and the light (salvation and sanctification) of the SON. 

BUT GOD!

No matter the harshest of winters we may face in our lives or the deepest darkness we feel planted in, we must continue to have hope. 

Like the seeds from our garden, we might feel buried in darkness, but we can have hope because the SON is always shining. The SON will pull us out of our dormancy so that we bloom again.

If you are in the depths of a winter season where you feel buried in darkness, take heart my friend! Seek the SON. 

Cry out to God like Job did. Wrestle with Him like Jacob did if you need to. 

Bow down in worship to feel His SON and watch how your faith will begin to spring into bloom again.

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Seek the Son!

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

“And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

~ Matthew 13:3-9

Theme Song: 

The Sower’s Song by Andrew Peterson

References Used:

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.