The Serpent & The Man

Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Faith is not knowledge.

For about 3 years I have felt like I am walking alone through a desert and God was no where I could find. He was quiet, distant (seemingly) and I thought maybe our move to Arkansas was the wrong move, and we should move back to MO. Not too long ago I asked the Lord “Did we not hear correctly about moving to AR? Why does this seem like such a dry season for me? Why does going to church just not satisify the hunger for You and understanding?

I know I asked my husband those same questions a million times. I do know that when I ask God a question, He always answers me, always. At least He has so far.

I am learning several things as a result of this situation…

First, I have found, if someone doesn’t settle on a passage of scripture (in context) by reading it several times, sitting with it, repeating it mindfully more than once daily, writing it out numerous times…for at least a month or more, they will not get the full measure of revelation it is capable of giving. It just will not. Meditation was created by God…it is the biggest source of revelation.

Second, I know in the past, I have more than once felt like I was in a “dry season” or a time when I didn’t hear as often from the Lord. I was told throughout the past by trusted Christian friends or leaders, “Well, everyone goes through that at some point” but, here is a thought. that was immature advice… I was dry because I needed water. We are watered by the Word…I was not staying with a passage long enough to drink fully from it.

The parable of the seeds being on Stoney ground or tossed among the thorns, the wayside, the good ground…. can be represented as different levels or amounts of understanding of the word as we have all been taught, but the issue was the environment the seed was being laid in.

Third, the Word says the fear (respect, value of, the position we give) of the Lord is the BEGINNING of knowledge. If there is little or no fear of the Lord, there is also very little or no knowledge. Even if the word is read, if it isn’t read through eyes of honor it will not be planted, but tossed by the wayside, or among thorns. The moment the seed hits the good ground it has enough moisture from the watering that it catches the seed, and the ground is sticky, and holds it long enough to crack the shell and grow fruit over TIME…there by knowledge/true wisdom is birthed to feed others.

It all connects and fully depends on continuous watering. If there is a dry season…you have simply forgotten to water your ground. Why because His Word is always available, always nutritious, and always ready for receiving. There is no reason for dry seasons.

Being trampled is a crushing that one has not recovered from. I have both been trampled and crushed, with hopes and dreams dissolving almost in my very hands sometimes. There is recovery for this, and it is best found in the Word. People have written books about coming back after incredible disappointment and those are good as long as they supplement the Word, not supersede the Word. God has helped many people recover in this area and they have some great advice too.

Stoney ground is built by offense, you literally will not receive truth because of offense. Offense can kill your progress and keep you from seeing so much truth and receive new truth in the form of seeds on all counts. This is a dangerous place to dwell because offense is contagious, and it can spread to other believers if you do not kill it.

Thorny ground is like distractions and jabs, or pointed attacks, there is some water there…because thorns can grow so it’s not the worst situation, but the annoyances of life will look like thorns. Plus, they kill the good stuff starting to grow.

The good ground is tilled, thorns are pulled up, stones are removed, and things that have trampled the new growth are taken up.  What is left is a daily, consistently tended, fertile & watered soil in expectation of seed.

I could probably go on, but this is a good beginning post. I just thought it interesting how they connected for me today.