Planting Seeds
A pastor shared a story about them planning to do a Jesus concert that summer. One of his youth suggested Disney Land! He said he knew Disney was not going to have a Jesus concert and in all honesty he was embarrassed to call and ask. But he did and to his surprise they were given 15 minutes on the Winnie The Pooh stage! That was a long ways for a fifteen minute concert but it was Disney. The next year he called hoping to get another fifteen minutes but was given thirty minutes on the Buzz Light Year stage! The third year they got 45 minutes on the main stage!!
The pastor said it took a 14 year old's heart to hear something he could not hear. And that youth humbled him. Pride got in his way. He was embarrassed to call and be told no. He did not want to call Disney Land at all! Seeds can only grow in a humble heart. Pride will abort the seeds. James 4: 6, "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.'”
How many times have I missed out on a blessing because of my pride? I was too prideful to ask! Isaiah 55: 8-9, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,'
declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" God is calling us to open our hearts for big dreams coming our way. When we have pride we are saying we don't really need God. We are not thinking about how He can do anything! Including a Jesus concert at Disney Land!
The Bible tells us that Moses "was a very humble man." Numbers 12: 3, "(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)" The word, “humility” means “earth” or “soil.” Our hearts must be like good soil to receive the things God wants to plant in us. Pride is hardness of the heart which is a barrier to spiritual change. Humility is necessary for spiritual transformation and for hearing God. When pride is gone, God is able to shape us to be more like Him.
"The vulnerability of the seed is not its potential but in its placement."