The Sower

“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. He who has ears let him hear.”

This past week I had the opportunity to share the Gospel at a few
Buddhist schools. We started off with a game to get the kids riled up and of
course to draw them in. We then had a short worship time or “concert” to get
the kids jumping and dancing around. It was so much fun. And then it was time
to give the message we had come to share. It was showtime!!

In one of the schools, I had 10 minutes to share the gospel with
translation (I don’t know very much Thai). Our translator knew basic english
and it was extremely difficult to communicate even to him. But we had come to
share, so we pushed on as best we could.

About halfway through the message almost all of the 150 plus kids
were turned to their neighbors and talking. It was chaos. It seemed that every
time I had said a sentence, I had to simplify it 2 or 3 times just for the
translator. So you can see that I was losing the attention of all the kids.
This of course made me antsy and extra careful of what to share next. My whole
message had to be altered on the spot. I was frustrated. I started to pray for
the right words. I prayed for the lord to speak.

Just as I prayed that, I saw a set of small, beautiful eyes
staring up at me. I noticed a young girl staring curiously up at me as I was
speaking The Lord then said, “these ARE my words. Keep going!” And on I
continued. I told one of my teammates once that if a person is interested to
what I have to say, I can walk in confidence. This was the case here, but the
reason for it was that I realized that it’s not up to me to worry about whether
I use the right words or not.

Just like in the parable of “The Sower”, I have to be obedient
like the sower himself and spread the seed. I can pray for the fruition, but it
is impossible for the seed to grow if it’s not planted firt. That’s my role!

Have you been planting the seeds in your life? Have you worried
about where the seed falls? You have to give that to God. You have to release
the responsibility that is only God’s to reconcile them to himself. The truth
is that most of us don’t evangelize to begin with as the Lord is calling us to.
Maybe we should start there first. Plant those seeds. I guarantee you that you
are in a position in someone’s life to plant seeds where no-one else is or had
been.