The hidden seed becomes the visible plant
And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.Mark 4:26-28
Many times we look at our spiritual growth as if we are trying to get a college education!! We think that we have to determine where we’re at and have a plan to get to a certain level of spiritual maturity. The scripture doesn’t describe the process that way at all. The above scripture tells us clearly that the man was just doing life and the seed was growing. God is at work. He doesn’t need us to be self-conscious of our growth. This can just cause strife or worry unnecessarily. If you want to see the growth of a seed while under the ground, you have to move the dirt to see the growth which undermines the work that’s already been done on the seed.
Patience and trust are the key ingredients for this phase of the seed development, as well as with our spiritual growth. We can’t despise the day of small beginnings. Then, one day you see something sprouting out of the ground. It will look small, tender and weak, but over time as you nurture this little plant it will grow and become strong. Someday it will even bear fruit. Even a baby in her mother’s womb grows without her mother knowing how the growth is occurring. The Lord has put the process in place.
Just like a patient farmer there is much work still left to be done in order for a seed to grow and become a healthy and fruitful plant. What is exciting about this is that the little seed that was previously needy and helpless, dependent on its environment, can now grow into a strong and healthy plant independent of its environment. This plant will always be in need of nourishment, water, and the sun, but it will become less dependent on the conditions of its environment because the roots are stronger and have gone deeper. Now the plant itself is strong and can find food regardless of the storms, drought, high or low temperatures in its environment. This is when we become strong believers and mature sons and daughters of the Most High. While we will always be vulnerable to the people and circumstances around us, we will be less shaken by them as we grow stronger and get deeper roots in Him.
We need to be willing to stay hidden in the Lord while He is working and growing us. Many times after we give up a lifestyle of sin the change in our life may not be visible. To most people the change may not be immediately noticed because God is doing an internal work to sanctify and mature us. These are the hard years. There is no glory in them, and sometimes it feels like there is no end to them. However, the more we appreciate those years and allow them to work in us, the more we will get out of the season. We have to remind ourselves this will not last forever, but it is a God-ordained season of hidden growth that has great purpose for the overall health of our walk with Him. Joseph, David, and even Paul had to go through the hidden years, but what they accomplished in their visible years far outweighed the years they were hidden.
Do you feel hidden in this season of your life? Are you allowing the Lord to do His good work in this season? Or are you anxiously waiting to come out of this season? Take your concerns and your heart’s desire to the Lord and ask Him to give you the grace and the patience necessary to stay hidden at this point.