“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matthew 13:1-9 NIV)
For over three years I tried various products to bring back to life a portion of my front lawn that had been left barren after having some old brass pipes replaced underground with the newer hard plastic type of pipes that keep roots out. Dominated by a lack of southern exposure and thus limited sunlight, the task was a challenge, an ongoing contest between self and stubborn ground. I tried planting grass seed for shady areas, put down sod designed to grow with little sun exposure, applied various products, promoted to produce guaranteed results, and I even put some new topsoil on the barren spots. Confronted, and seemingly losing to the controlling ground, I remained determined, adopted a “don’t give up” mindset. I tried other techniques, but the positive results I was looking to achieve never came about. None of my efforts were able to defeat the stubborn ground.
Finally, we (meaning that my wife really made the wise decision), “we” called a professional service. We called on the experts to come in and bring new life to my front lawn. They were successful and now, finally, you cannot tell where the barren spot, wide on width and long in length, was located. It’s not a perfect, golf course type lawn, but the lawn is full, and it keeps reproducing every year. “We” contracted with the service to come by periodically for various treatments in the different seasons of the year to ensure the lawn stayed healthy. It might have taken some help, but the “Don’t give up” mentality, aided by the expert’s know-how, paid off.
As believers, we run into “stubborn ground” in our efforts to plant a seed that will cause individuals to give way to new life, certain growth, gained by accepting Jesus as their Savior and Lord. We have employed various evangelistic techniques, traditional methods, and truly creative evangelistic approaches, but nothing has brought about positive results in the case of the “stubborn ground.” My advice to you is three-fold. First, don’t give up! Second, pray to the Lord, petition the Lord to help you win a soul, plead with one that can provide expert help in producing new growth in the kingdom. Third, keep living a life that serves as a testimony to others that Christ in one’s life makes a positive difference. Your life can serve as the additive that assist in the growing and maintain if the good seed that has been planted, watered, and prayer on. We may not win them all, as indicated in Jesus’ parable above, but don’t give up. Maintain the “don’t give up” mindset. Keep working on the “stubborn ground!” Be a partner in producing great result in growing the kingdom this week! Carry out your assignment. God will do the rest. Be blessed!
“Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working.” (I Corinthians 3:5-9 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King