A few months ago, I wrote about my beloved avocado plant, of which I was very proud. Avi, as I have fondly named my avocado plant, is still alive, but has gone through some changes.
Once he started to grow, Avi grew into a beautiful little plant with a straight stalk and four large bright leaves. The leaves moved towards the light, seeking its life giving light just as God created them to do, and for a while, Avi seemed to thrive. His incredible growth spurt slowed down, but he still continued to show life with the green leaves and a tiny new leaf in the very middle of the top. Then, unexpectedly, one of those beautiful leaves started to curl and shrivel on the ends; the shriveling spread further into the leaf. I watched it carefully day after day, making sure that Avi was properly watered and had enough light. But the leaf fell off. Then the second leaf started to do the same, followed soon after by the remaining two leaves, until all that was left of Avi was a slim stalk with a tiny bud of a leaf on the top.
I was dismayed. Was this the end of Avi? Should I throw Avi out, and forget about him? I decided to keep Avi just where he was, continue to watch him, water him, give him light, and see what happened.
Nothing. The tiny bud leaf didn’t drop off, but it also didn’t grow. It just kind of sat there. The stalk didn’t grow or change color. It just kind of stood there.
But I watched and waited and continued my rituals of care. And very slowly, Avi started to change. A second and third leaf started to bud and all three grew s-l-o-w-l-y. But they were growing! That meant Avi was not dead, only waiting…
I find sometimes that my faith walk follows a similar life cycle. As a new believer, I grew quickly, by leaps and bounds. I was enthusiastic, I drank everything in, I was hungry and thirsty for more. And I grew. But perhaps that early growth was too quick, because when the luster of newness wore off, I settled into a more complacent faith for a while. The adventure of something new had worn off, but the seed of faith was still there.
The Bible tells us in Romans 10:9-10 “9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” In John 3:3 Jesus explained salvation to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, in this way: “3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When we are born again, we become children of God because he gives us His seed. That seed grows inside us and flourishes to the point that it bears fruit when we take care of it through prayer, reading the Bible and spending time in the presence of God.
1 Peter 1:23: “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”
That seed that He gives us, does not die but stays in us, is “imperishable”, and comes to us through the living word of God. At those times when it’s hard to pray, or when you feel distant from the Lord, you can be assured that you are still His child because you are born again of His imperishable seed. Your outer leaves may be shriveled up, they may have even fallen off, but you still possess the DNA that caused them to flourish in the first place.
As people, we are often driven by feelings, and gauge our well being by our feelings. I’ve gone through periods of time when I don’t “feel” like praying, when it “feels” like the words just are not coming out right, when I “feel” I can’t read the Bible because nothing is sinking in and I just read the same few verses over and over. Well, all those things may be true, but God knew that, so He made a way out: He gave us imperishable seed, so no matter how it feels we have the assurance that we are His children in us. We just have to believe that, and that the name of Jesus Christ is greater than any challenges we may face.
Now I know that this sounds easy, but often is not. I have agonized over my “dry seasons” or “deserts”, terms church people like to use for those times, begged God to get rid of them, and been aggravated when He does not miraculously do so. Yes, I can pray for the time to come to an end so I can be back in my comfortable place where I feel like doing all those things I should be doing. But if it lingers, perhaps my God is trying to stretch me and grow me. Perhaps I need to learn to be faithful in the midst of a drought, or a struggle, or distractions. Perhaps it is that faithfulness in the midst of adversity that He wants to strengthen, so that when real adversity hits me, I am prepared, and will never give up on that seed that He has so graciously planted in this heart.
The next time you feel unable to pray or read, remember that imperishable seed that God so graciously gave you. Hold onto that truth, and sit at His feet, in the marvelous light of the Light of the world! Stay there as long as you need to, holding on to the truth of what God has given you through Jesus Christ. No time spent in prayer, in the Bible and at the feet of Jesus is wasted time! God is faithful. Stay faithful…He will not allow you to stay in that desert forever, but will show you the way out. God bless you! He is faithful!
Living in the Light of the world 