The Mess Around You Cannot Stop God’s Work in You

By Greg Sanders

Rest in the fact that what gets planted around you cannot stop what gets planted in you.

Matthew 13:24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

You cannot control what gets planted around you, but you can control what gets planted by you and IN you. Let me help you interpret some of your life circumstances today: If you see bad fruit coming from a field full of good seeds, that is NOT necessarily evidence that what was planted has failed, but rather that the enemy is at work. The enemy is always trying to infiltrate your field. He is always trying to spoil the work that God is trying to do in your life. That is why parents must pray for their children. That is why we must pray for one another. That is why we must pray for our church…There is an enemy trying to plant bad seed in good fields.

The enemy is trying to infiltrate your field and your world. He is trying to infiltrate your home and your family. He is trying to plant some seeds of doubt among your seeds of faith. But the good news is this: The surrounding culture has never been able to stop the culture of heaven being produced in the earth.

WHAT IS GROWING AROUND YOU CANNOT STOP WHAT GOD IS GROWING IN YOU.

In 1 Samuel 2:12-21 we learn that the boy Samuel grew up among chaos and evil. He was in the house of Eli the priest growing up with Eli’s sons. You would think that would be a perfect environment with temptation at an all time low. However, Eli’s sons were practicing evil. They were stealing from the offering and sleeping with various people. The temple had become a corrupt place. Samuel could have thought, “What is the use of doing the right thing?” But the Bible says in verse 21…”Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.” What was going on around Him could not stop what God was doing in Him. God sees your life and God can cause you to flourish despite your surroundings. Though it may be tough, what is around you does not have to get in you, nor does it negate what God has planned to do in your life.

The weeds around you cannot stop the seeds God has planted in you.

Today’s Challenge: Remember that what God put in you is greater than the things around you.

Blessings,

Greg