You can read about it here but here’s what the plant looked like.A few posts ago, I shared about a plant that I almost threw away.


Since then, it has continued to be resurrected. And here’s what it looks like today.

Isn’t that exciting? As I’ve watched it continue to grow and flourish, I can’t help but think (I know, it’s no surprise) about how the seed of salvation can lie dormant in a person’s life and yet spring to life even when we’ve given up hope. 

Hope is so important. We all need it. Without it, we languish and waste away—if not, physically—spiritually. 

Sometimes we just don’t know what God is going to do, just like that plant, and yet He brings a big harvest. For some reason, I’m really reflecting on something that occurred many years ago—before my children were even born—that’s how long ago.

I was working at the time and on this particular day, I didn’t feel good. I first tried to lay down at work but finally told my supervisor I had to go home. I felt too bad. I arrived home feeling sorry for myself and lay down in bed, but surprisingly, began to feel a little better. I don’t even think I was praying, but suddenly, I sensed the Holy Spirit whisper in my heart, “Go talk to Anna about Me.”

Huh? Lord, I’m sick. I don’t feel good. I just want to lay here and pamper myself. Besides, I barely know her. 

Anna was my neighbor across the street and we’d met in our new neighborhood, but we weren’t really friends. 

So I resisted in a different way. “But Lord, what should I say to her?”

I don’t know why I thought that was an obstacle. Sorta like Moses, “But I can’t talk well.” I’m wondering if the Lord laughed at me, but there wasn’t a chuckle when He seemed to say, “Tell her I love her.”

Oh, boy. That’s original. Years later, I would receive a similar direction in an airport, but I digress. 

I really didn’t want to go across the street and I still didn’t feel good but I knew the Holy Spirit wouldn’t let me rest, so I got dressed and plodded across the street, my heart fluttering in dreaded anticipation of rejection and being ostracized among the neighbors.

I knocked on Anna’s door and hoped she wasn’t home. When the door opened and Anna stood there smiling at me, I gulped and said, “Hi Anna, I know you’ll think I’m crazy, but God wanted me to come tell you that He loves you.”

Her face registered surprise and she said, “Really? My son and I were just talking about that. Come in.”

That began a dialogue that resulted several months later in Anna receiving Christ as her Savior—and then the beginning of a neighborhood women’s Bible study that continues to this day, even though I’ve moved away. (By the way, I went home from her house that day and didn’t feel sick at all!)

Over time, Anna grew to be a strong Christian but she moved before I did and I lost touch with her. Recently, we became re-acquainted through Facebook and it’s a joy to see that she has continued to love and serve the Lord. 

That little seed sprouted and became a glorious plant to God’s glory. Of course, it seems like few of the things God tells me to do turn out so powerfully, but I often think of that example, 40 years ago, as a benchmark of what God can do with a little. 

Look at those two photos again. Maybe there’s something going on with you and
A. it seems like nothing is happening
B. there’s a tiny shoot but fear overwhelms you wondering if it’ll be successful
C. there’s some growth but you still wonder if it will last.

I can relate to all three in different areas of my life. Let’s trust God that as we follow His leading, He will bring the fruit and increase that He desires.