“If you’re going to reach your potential, you have to know you are good seed,” notes an evangelist. “God wouldn’t have breathed His life into you, He wouldn’t have chosen you before you could choose Him, if you didn’t have purpose, destiny, and greatness.
“You may have made mistakes, but there’s something in you that can’t stop the seed. You may have come from negative circumstances, but that doesn’t change your seed.
“Don’t let how you were raised, what you didn’t get, or any dysfunction convince you that you’re not up to par, that you can’t do something great. Because you’re good seed, you’re still going to shine, you’re still going to blossom.”
Interesting words from a man with whom we may sometimes differ, but a man even Cardinal George Pell listened to while imprisoned down in Australia and looking for inspiration.
“In life, you have to realize that you’ll have some dirt put on you. At times, it feels like you’re a buried seed. You’ll feel like you’ll never get passed a sickness, a trouble, an addiction.
“It’s dark, you feel pressure all around, and you don’t see a way out. The good news is that you’re not buried, you’re planted. The difference is that when you’re buried, you’re done, but when you’re planted, you’re coming up again, stronger, healthier, more successful.
“But here’s the key: Being planted feels the same as being buried. It’s dark, it’s uncomfortable, you feel pushed down and compacted. If you judge things too soon and get discouraged, you’ll give up on your dreams.”
And we all find this: times when we’re in a dark place, when there’s grit and dirt around, on, or in us, times when we can’t see light. Yet, we can flower. Always!
Now, we men prefer the metaphor of a tree. There is the mustard seed. A tiny seed. But an enormous tree, when it makes its breakthrough.
The important thing is to know is the Light of God is always present: always. Darkness may be the absence of light, but not His Light.
And when we consider darkness, we should realize how little light it takes to break through it, to serve to guide and enlighten us — even a pinprick of light can be our way out of a “coal mine.” Just a little light defeats enormous darkness.
No matter how large a room, lighting a match will cause a surprisingly huge effect — lend guidance, lend sight, showing the way out. All it takes is a little luminosity to overcome obscurity. It’s like that “exit” sign in a movie theatre.
With God, there is an exit out of any situation.
The key is to focus on the right light and follow Him. In this way does the dirt become even a friend — forced to nourish the seeds we are, compose the soil we rise from. The key is to grow upward.
How many times in your life have you felt “buried”? Perhaps it’s now. Perhaps you’re buried with work. Perhaps you’re buried with concerns. Perhaps you’re buried by depression, or by what others have done or said. Perhaps you’re buried with emotions, addictions. Perhaps you’re buried by ennui — boredom. Sometimes God may plant us deep because he wants our roots to be strong.
We can always germinate. We can always grow (and purify). We can always burst through the ground. Yes, it takes effort. There may be a rock in the way. Or a root. The ground may be hard clay. We may have to grow around an obstacle. We may have to fend off weeds. (Oh, the weeds!) At times there is no water!
But grow we can, surging upward and bursting forth like a sunflower into the Light of God on the glorious, appointed day.
[resources: Michael Brown online retreat, 9/26: signs of the times, spiritual warfare]