A friend of mine told me about something he saw on a fridge magnet:

“Anyone can count the seeds in an apple. But only God can count the apples in the seed.”

The reason I share that is because it’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t see something important in your life bearing fruit. Maybe you’ve been praying about something, trying to fix a problem, or improve a situation that continually thwarts you.

You look at the facts, consider the options, make a decision, act in a certain way, but don’t get the results you were hoping for.

But don’t get discouraged. You may be able to count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in the seed. In other words, only God can peer into the future and see the fruits of your labour… even when you can’t.

Just because you can’t see progress doesn’t mean there isn’t any.

A famous verse from Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

It remind us that God can see far into a future beyond ourselves. He knows the “secret things.” Our job is simply to follow the words of his law as we strive to be the hands and feet of Christ one day at a time.

Just because you can’t see progress doesn’t mean there isn’t any.

“Anyone can count the seeds in an apple. But only God can count the apples in the seed.”

By Matthew Ruttan

–“Big Hope in The Age of Melancholy.” That’s my latest podcast. We need to be confident in the source of our hope. If we’re not, it’s just too easy to get sucked down into a pit of despair. Click here to listen in.

–“Help when it hurts.” That’s a new teaching series I’ll be starting at Westminster on June 9. No one gets a free pass through life. But we are promised God’s presence and help along the way. Click here for a 48-second YouTube video I made about what to expect.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.