Fierce Faith || What Faith IS (Part 1 of 4)
Faith IS Always Seeking and Growing:
I love to garden. Every summer we plan out what we want to grow, till the soil and break it up, remove as many weeds as our eyes can see and prepare it for seed. Gardening is super therapeutic for me. Although, I have to admit, I hate the part after planting seeds. I hate the waiting.
For a while my garden just looks like a big open space of dirt. It’s kind of ugly. But this is the moment when things need the most tending. The seeds are fragile. Fragile to weeds, predators, frost. They need tender care. They need to be watered regularly and not forgotten about. And if I am faithful and not lazy, my garden with flourish. It will grow strong, become beautiful to the eye, and bring forth what it was purposed for.
I gotta admit, there have been years where I have been lazy. I did all the preparatory things for the garden, tilled the soil, pulled weeds, planted my seed, and was SUPER excited about what was to come. But then I got lazy. I got “busy.” I didn’t stay devoted to tending to my garden. Weeds crept in, they choked out my seeds, and I had to start all over again. Doing even MORE work to correct, fix, and replant what should have been tended to in the first place.
It is the same with our Faith. Why do we often treat it as something that doesn’t need to be tended to daily? Why is it that we see it as something that is “once and done?” I prayed the prayer, I go to church, I listen to Christian radio to make myself feel somewhat holy, I pray - mostly at dinner, I sometimes read my Bible - mostly when I need something… We treat our Faith as though it never needs tending to. We treat it as an accessory.
Then all of a sudden, we start to feel choked. We go through a rough patch, a rough season, feel troubled or are persecuted and no longer look to God as a source of strength, healing, comfort, guidance, wisdom, perfecter… We look to Him as though He is the source of our troubles. We blame Him for our troubles. Why? Let’s find out.
Matthew 13:1-23 says the following.
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” 10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” 11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Jesus speaks of three different types of soil, which represents faith.
The first soil was rocky. It was shallow. Doesn’t have much depth to it. This soil hears the word of God, it sprang up quickly, but neither understood nor learned the promises of God and the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. It heard and received the word with joy, but since there was no root, they last only a short time. Trouble and persecution comes because of the world, and they quickly fall away. To this person, faith sounded pretty. But they only grasped onto with a thread.
The second soil was a little better. Kind of, but not really. This person received the seed of faith that fell among thorns. They heard and received the truth. They knew the truth. But the worries of this life begin to choke out truth. They allow the worries of this world to get entangled with what they KNOW, and their faith begins to choke. It no longer produces fruit. They become a plant whose purpose is to flourish and produce a beautiful crop, yet it sits, completely baron.
The third soil is good. It is rich in minerals, plowed, tilled. It is ready. When the seeds (Word of God) are planted, they are tended to. They are taken care of. They are not left to fend for themselves. Instead, the gardener tenderly cares for the new growth. But I want to make a note here, which the
Matthew Henry Concise Commentary of the Bible so eloquently puts it like this:
What distinguished the good ground from the rest was faithfulness. By this, true Christians are distinguished from hypocrites. Christ does not say that this good ground has no stones in it, or no thorns; but none that could hinder its fruitfulness…
You see, it is the same with our faith. If we take the seed of faith that was planted in our hearts and do not tend to it. It will die. It will get choked out. It will allow other voices to speak louder than Truth. God did not give us his Word so that it can be bound in beautiful Bibles to sit on tables and make it look as though we live out what He says. It’s not a home decor accessory to make us look spiritual. He purposefully gave it to us to FEED us. To plow, tend, pluck, produce a harvest, refine, point us to Him.
When life’s struggles come, where do we turn? Do we run to the one that created us? Or do we run to Google? Cause Google is not God.
Faith is always seeking. Always growing. It doesn’t sit idly by. It means that while we tend to the soil, a rock may come into the path, a weed may sprout, a thorn may come - but it DOESN’T phase you. Instead, you bend down, pick up that rock and chuck it. You see a weed coming and you pluck that sucker up and dispose of it. It means that when the thorns that the enemy or this life try to entangle us in, you go and grab a big plow or machete, which is the Word of God, and you beat it that sucker back. Why? Because your foundation is deep. Your garden it strong. Your faith sees what life can throw at you and you already know that what God has planted, you have tended to. You are seeking, learning, growing, and allowing HIS Word, the tools for His garden to shape and produce the kind of fruit He wants. This does not mean your faith won’t be tested… That the devil won’t try and knock you off your feet. What it does mean is that when something does come along and tries and trip you up, you aren’t phased. You see the snare and step around it.
So I end this post with this question to ask yourself: How’s your soil (faith)? Are your roots deeply rooted? Are you tending to the seed of faith that was planted in you? Don’t let your faith become the garden I was lazy with.
Need encouragement or not sure where to even start? Here are some wonderful Bible Studies to begin tending and growing a beautiful garden of faith that is deeply rooted in Christ.
Finding I Am by Lysa TerKeurst
Walking as Jesus Walked by Dann Spader
The Gospel of Mark Study by Francis Chan
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Visit links below for next post in this series:
Bookshelf Faith || What Faith Is Part 3 of 4
Faith Pushes Boundaries || Part 4a of 4d
Faith & Comfort Don’t Mix || Part 4b of 4d
