SUBSCRIBER NOTE: I have been posting random thoughts on Facebook and Instagram, and then reposting them here when I get some time so, if you happen to follow me on social media, I know you're seeing them twice. If you don't follow me on social media, I would love to see you there since I do tend to post there more often these days. Either way, thanks a bunch.
Have you ever grown something from seed? It's truly a miracle.
I love, love, love the imagery of this verse because it describes so much about God’s human horticultural process in such a vibrant, hopeful way. Nature reflecting God’s spiritual principles, as she so often does. I won’t unpack all of it here, but let’s just poke around a bit and get a spiritual boost.
My first home had a little urban garden. I had absolutely no gardening experience but lots of ambition and enthusiasm. A nice Italian girl, I started with zucchini, tomatoes, and basil. Have you ever opened one of those innocuous little seed packets? To an amateur, it seems altogether impossible that the tiny little seed could become something edible. Believing that itsy-bitsy dry thing could produce results seems miraculous. Nothing is impossible…with God.
I dug a little hole in the rich riverbed soil and pressed the seed into it, covered it with the dark, loamy dirt, and watered it more or less faithfully. Days and weeks passed and there was nothing at all. I grew skeptical. Then suddenly, germination! A delicate little seedling sprung forth, pushing through the mounds of dense earth around it with unlikely strength. With continued care, it eventually became one of those giant zucchini plants that overran my tiny space and yielded a bountiful crop of fine looking and delicious squash.
There is a lot happening in the invisible darkness.
Here Isaiah is talking about God’s beleaguered, wayward people sowing seeds in tears. They’d had a succession of literal or metaphorical bad crops or draught, or invasive insects, ravenous bunnies, or pestilence. Can I get an Amen? Have you had a series of disappointments despite your sincere and diligent efforts? Maybe you’re no victim but have destroyed real or figurative crops by your own hand.
Have you been sowing all your tears with God, crying out to him, bringing it to Him and His Son-light for healing and nourishment?
The rest of Psalm 126 is a bumper crop of encouragement. I hope you’ll read it.
Don’t give up! Keep sowing—with or without tears! Wait for the miracle!
