Growing Seeds
"The seed will grow well."
Zechariah 8:12 (NIV)
Today's verse was my "go to" verse last week as I prepared to speak at a weekend women's retreat in another city. I discovered it one morning last week during my study time as I was cross referencing a verse from Proverbs. The words literally jumped from the page and into my heart as I read them. The verse is only five words, but those words brought encouragement and peace to my heart as I finished my final retreat presentations.
Our retreat topic was "Proverbs- The Wise Woman's Bucket List." I really can't describe the joy that I experienced when I walked into the church fellowship hall and saw the table decorations. Each woman's place was marked with a small brightly colored metal garden pail which held a Proverbs paperback. In short, we literally had buckets with Proverbs in them!
During our teaching time, I briefly outlined the Wise Woman's Bucket List. Proverbs teaches us that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom," (Proverbs 1:7) but "the fear of the LORD" is just the beginning of wisdom. A closer look at Proverbs shows us that Proverbs' other major themes or "buckets" are then:
Guard my heart
Watch my words
Control my appetites
Maintain right relationships
Pursue my work
Manage my resources
Cultivate character
Walk is wisdom
Know God
Every verse in Proverbs will map or reference one of these categories. Most verses can map to several categories as Proverbs 10:8 demonstrates:
"The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin."
At least four categories - walk in wisdom, guard my heart, cultivate character (one who accepts commands is teachable), and watch my words- are referenced in this verse.
Verse by verse, we worked our way through Proverbs chapter 10. One by one, the women took turns reading a verse and deciding which categories were represented by that particular verse. They filled up Excel spreadsheets and I filled up an entire white storyboard. Together we sowed the seed of God's Word not just with our lips, but also with our lives. God promises that His Word will not return empty:
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)
The seed will grow well; not because it's my seed, but because it's His. Oh God, "do as you have promised." (2 Samuel 7:25)