Sow seeds. Sow love.

I found this verse in 1 Corinthians. I'm sure I have read it numerous times before but never really grasped it, or had a reason to apply it to my life...possibly to my own fault. Anyway, it reads like this in chapter 15, verse 58, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of The Lord, knowing that in The Lord your labor is not in vain." 

There are days when we are doing work for the good of the Kingdom, but it doesn't seem like anything is coming of it. I know. I've been there. I'm there now. When you work with kids who don't want to be here and don't want to have anything to do with the Good News that you try and expose them to at every opportunity, you can get very discouraged. You may think, "why, God??" But really, seeds are being planted even if you may not think there is any fruit. Take heart, my friends!! Spread the seed an trust God to make it grow. Paul says earlier in 1 Corinthians that, "So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives growth" (3:7). 

Let God do the hard work. We can't make people see and respond. God has to work in the hearts and lives of those we are working with. If we try to do it all ourselves, we will just get burnt out because it is a God-sized job. Just love people with all the love God gives you (and trust me, that is a lot). When you love people with the love of Christ, you are planting seeds for God to work with. 

This could be as much of a reminder for you as it is for me. I'm a control freak. Yep, I said it. I am. I like having control of my life and the things around me. I'm not necessarily proud of that, but it's something I've come to realize and something I have to work on so I can let God do what He needs to do. 

Look into your own life. Where do you need to sow the seeds and where do you just need to let God do what He does best? It's not easy, but it is so worth it. 

Who you are meant to be.

Working at a group home gives some interesting perspective on life. There are the highs and lows and ins and outs and you can never be quite sure what to expect from any of them. But there is one thing that is always a constant: brokenness. Broken homes, broken lives, broken bodies. You name it, it's probably been broken somewhere along the lines for these kids. They need the love of God in their lives, and yet they are hesitant to take that step and let God work wonders in their life.

Though we may not be that hesitant in our own lives, I think we still struggle to let God work fully in our lives. He has so much more planned for our lives, more than we could ever think or imagine if we only just let him work in our lives. Dr. Larry Crabb said it beautifully in 66 Love Letters. "I have found a way to supply the power you lack, the power you need, to become the person you most long to be, the person you most truly are, the person I alone can make you: a worshipper of Me in any circumstance; a lover like My Son who desired forgiveness for His murderers; a dancer who hears heaven's music on earth and moves freely in rhythm with My Spirit in a worshipping, loving, dancing community of friends who feel indebted to reveal My Son to the world by the way they relate and through the creative expression of whatever gifts they possess and opportunities they find." This excerpt is written as a dialogue from God to us, and I fell in love with it the first time I read it. It tries to sum up the entire message that the book of Romans is trying to say. He goes on to talk about how we can get caught up in the doctrines and traditions of religion and focus on knowing the facts instead of letting the facts fill us up and change us from the inside. We can't possibly become the people God meant for us to be if we don't let him in to change us. His truth can't be something that we just observe and take notes on, it has to be something we experience. The experience is what causes us to grow and reach that full potential that God has planned for us.

We are God's beautiful creations. He tells us so in Psalms 139 and we can't try to limit His power by telling Him we can't possibly be something that He created us for. If we try, we are about as useful as the dry bones in Ezekiel. It's time to embrace what He can do for us and let something amazing happen in our lives. You might be amazed at the peace and contentment you feel when you are living your life to its fullest potential.