While looking in the back yard for limbs which had fallen, I stepped in front of my car, and to my surprise, petunias were flourishing at the edge of the drive.  They sprang forth through the gravel, and from the healthy look of the plant, it appears it will have many blooms to come.  I would never think to plant petunias in gravel nor in the most unlikely of places.  For the time being, I will not remove the plant.  I am curious to see how much it will grow and continue to bloom.

I thought about the parable of the sower when seeing this amazing sight.  Our Lord taught us the seed was the Gospel.  He taught us about the soil, meaning our hearts, and if hearts had sufficient fertile soil to accept the seed or reject it.  And sometimes when we least expect, the seed we planted, takes root and grows.  It is our duty to spread the seed.  God will give the increase.

“I have planted, Apollos watered;  but God gave the increase.  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth;  but God  that giveth the increase.  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one:  and every man shall receive his own reward according to his labour.”    I Corinthians 3:6-8

When we plant God’s Word in others hearts, we sometimes become impatient wanting immediate results.  But just as the farmer plants his crops, he knows it will not be up to him to give the increase.  He does all he can in cultivating his soil, planting his crops with good seed, and then prays for sufficient rain and sun to give the increase to his crops.  He knows all is in God’s hands for growth, and must be patient while awaiting the harvest.

“Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?  Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?  Does he not  level its surface And sow dill and scatter cummin And plant wheat in rows, Barley in its place and rye within its area?”       Isaiah 28:24-25

Of course, the farmer needs good seed.  God’s Word is perfect seed for our hearts.  It is good seed and not to be defiled by men’s creeds nor doctrines.  Our Lord has the final Authority in all things.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.      Matthew 28:18

“You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will be come defiled.”     Deuteronomy 22:9

“Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.”  Leviticus 27:30

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout,  And furnishing seed to the sower and to the bread eater.”        Isaiah 55:10

“You fool!  That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;  and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.  But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.”      I Corinthians 15:36-38

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.  He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,  Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”    Psalms 126:5-6

As the petunias growing at the edge of my drive,  I will see how much the plant grows and produces flowers, and prayerfully it will not have shallow soil and quickly shrivel and die.  May God give the increase!

“With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.”      ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“For there will be peace for the seed:  the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield it produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I  will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.”   Zechariah 8:12

“The earth has yielded its produce;  God, our God, blesses us.”    Psalm 67:6

“Indeed, the Lord will give what is good, And our land will yield its produce.”       Psalms 85:12

“Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God?  The seeds shrivel under their clods;  The storehouses are desolate,  The barns are ton down, For the grain is dried up.”     Joel 1:1-17

–Eileen Light