I recently came across something that was rather encouraging. If it was encouraging to me, I’m sure it will be encouraging to you as well.

A seed was discovered in the ruins of King Herod’s palace at Masada in Israel. In 2008, researchers decided to plant the seed in some soil. Low and behold, it germinated and grew into a palm plant!

Think of that for a moment. A seed was put into soil and still grew into a plant after about 2000 years!*

In the Bible, God’s message to us (his word) is compared to a seed (as in Mark 4). When we share, teach or talk about this message with others, we are sowing seed.

Many of you have done this in your own way. Perhaps you have taught a Sunday School class, youth group, or at a Vacation Bible Camp. Or maybe you have talked to a neighbour or family member about Jesus, what he has done for you, and the hope he offers.

But you wondered if it made any difference. You doubted yourself. People didn’t respond well. You felt like you could have done better. You concluded that it was probably a waste of time.

Don’t be so sure.

In Isaiah 55:11 God says that his word “will not return to me empty…” It will “achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

If God can make a 2000-year-old seed grow into a palm plant, he can use your words. And he can do it a long time after that original event or conversation. The seed has power—not because you’re amazing, but because it belongs to an almighty and unrelenting God.

Nothing is impossible with the Lord. Don’t give up. Don’t be discouraged.

Be faithful and leave the results to him.

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Notes:

–*Mark Sayers, A Non-Anxious Presence: How a Changing and Complex World Will Create a Remnant of Renewed Christian Leaders (Chicago, Moody Publishers, 2022), 120.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.