Spreading the Seeds

Meet my friend, Regan Moore. We know one another through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and it has been super fun to walk alongside her on this journey with Jesus. I love her passion for spreading the seeds, which she will share with you today. 

Regan has a love for Jesus, her family, and experiencing the joy of life. She has a gift of administration that she shares with FCA to make an impact in central KY. She has a passion for using sign language to administer to, and share the gospel with, the community of hearing impaired. She’s become a dear friend, and I’m so glad you’re here today to read these words of hers.

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).

Children love to pick dandelions, whether yellow or dead; however, there is something so enticing about those that have aged and grayed. They simply must be plucked and blown. Yet, beyond that moment, once the wind from your lips has dispersed the fluffy stems, the reality is that you will never know where the seed will land, how far it will go, or whether or not it will actually take root. 

In the moment you choose to pick the flower and blow, you conduct an action that has the potential for new life to bloom even though you will not be around to see the end results. You will not see the new flowers, but because of their appealing demand to be dispersed, you still blow the seeds anyway.

Recently, on a trip abroad, I found myself on a train ride sitting alone for a journey that lasted several hours. Attempting to take advantage of this travel time, I pulled out my Bible to get in some quiet time in a moment of stillness amongst the otherwise chaotic schedule. Through a series of events in which a gentleman accidentally took another’s seat in a car hosting passengers spattered around, a man in his 30s shifted to sit in my quad of four seats facing one another parted by a center table. Now, up until this point, this guy and I had made passing eye contact and exchanged grins several times as he sat diagonal from me. 

Feeling the Holy Spirit prompting me to engage this man, yet not knowing how to approach it seeing as he was across the aisle in another seating section, an opportunity clearly provided by the Lord presented itself when his seat was unknowingly stolen and he came to join me.

In full transparency, I was very hesitant and nervous to engage in conversation with this individual. Not only was I in an unfamiliar country in which English was not the common language, but now as a woman alone on a train I was being approached by a foreign man. And the Lord wanted me to talk to him? I didn’t even know if he spoke English. 

Begrudgingly and out of mere fear and procrastination, I prayed to the Father that if He indeed did want me to converse with him, to have this man now sitting across from me start the interaction. Which–mind you–he did within seconds. (I get it, God.) Knowing that He does not leave or forsake us, even in moments of fear (Deut. 31:8), and even more so trusting that the Holy Spirit will give God’s people the words to speak when needed (Luke 12:11-12), I submitted to obedience and spoke to the man. 

For over an hour we talked, me and Afsul. Learning of his held Islamic faith, I shared with him the hope of the Gospel through salvation in Jesus Christ, how He came to seek and save the lost, and how I have placed my faith in Him and He has changed my life. How the gift of grace and forgiveness is free to those who repent and accept it. I encouraged and challenged him with questions and thoughts and urged him to seek the truth and dwell upon it.

And then we parted. The train arrived, we fist bumped, and I never saw him again.

I bet you were expecting an exciting “come-to-Jesus moment” and incredible salvation story with a great ending, weren’t you? Well, here’s the actuality of this tale.

To my knowledge, Afsul did not place his faith in Christ that day; but nevertheless, although hesitantly, by the strength of the Spirit I chose to blow the dandelion seeds. I will likely never know this side of heaven whether or not those seeds took root, but in that moment I decided to sow them anyway. And that’s okay.

Scripture outlines different types of soil as representing the hearts of men in relation to receiving the Gospel (Matthew 13:1-23). The existence of rocks, thorns, birds, or good soil will dictate the acceptance, rejection and longevity of the seed’s growth, but this is what I learned in that moment on the train in Switzerland: we cannot control the soil–we are merely asked to spread the seeds. 

I have no power or capacity to save or grant salvation–only our Heavenly Father maintains that authority. Yet, as His children we are commanded to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). This seems like a tall-order and steep challenge when we approach it, especially in a results-driven world. It is hard for us to relinquish control and even harder still not to know or see the final product. And yet.

God asserts that His Word, when sent out, does not return to Him void and accomplishes all that it sets out to do (Isaiah 55:10-11). As a double-edged sword, His Word is sharp and will make its impact. Thus, who are we to be concerned with where the seed lands and what grows? Our Father promises that Scripture will accomplish its goal when shared.

In my case on the train, that might have meant that Afsul did indeed surrender his life to Christ, or it might not have. But he could have shared it with his friends who might have been impacted by it or our conversation could have been overheard by another passenger. I am not sure. Regardless, His Word will not return void, and the best case scenario is that Heaven became a little more crowded. The only thing I am sure of is what sharing and obedience did to my own heart, and if that is what it sought to do then that is enough. The most important thing is that I scattered them when asked. Can you say the same?

One thing you cannot do in Heaven is evangelize. You cannot follow His command to take and spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Are you taking advantage of that capability here? Are you following that command in your workplace, the grocery store, sitting across from your mother? 

In this season, how are you truly leaning on the promises of God when you cannot guarantee the outcome or see the end of the story?

Trust, obedience, surrender. That’s all He wants.

Go tell it on the mountain. Or on a train.

Spread the seeds.