This month’s Front Porch Friday is a continuation of Guest Blogger Andrea Wenderski’s dialog with God through a winter season of life. A season of stillness and awareness. If you didn’t catch Part I, click here.

“This season has strengthened your wisdom and understanding, My daughter. Continue.”

I sat in silence for a bit, gathering my thoughts and making sense of the images in my mind’s eye. Taking a deep breath, I said, “Just because something or someone is in my life, it does not mean that they are meant to be there. Sometimes You do some uprooting and weeding and while this may be painful at first to have something or someone removed, I need to recall that You take all things—both the good and the bad—and work them out for my (and, thus ultimately Yours) glory (Romans 8:28). I need to weed my own life, especially when my conscience is pricked by the thorns and thistles of sin, but need to be cautious weeding out people, because You are the great gardener, not me (DEFINITELY not me!) and You will weed them from my life, in Your perfect timing. I don’t have to be bosom buddies, but I do have to be charitable. For those who are harmful to my mental health, charitable boundaries are fine, because, after all, maybe You’ve left them in my life to remind me to pray for them.

“Like the seeds, I am an individual. I am designed by You, Abba, and am thus beautiful. That statement is true for each and every person in Your eyes. Some people grow into flowers: fragrant and beautiful; but, some choose to grow into weeds: prickly to touch, fast-growing and overpowering. It is not my responsibility to decide who is good and bad, who should stay and go; rather, it is my responsibility to stand firm where I am planted and to sow from the seed of my fruit that which I desire to reap. You, Abba, will remove the weeds because if I try to do the weeding, I risk destroying the crop. (Matthew 13:29)

“And, finally, I need to examine my life and decide if I am putting energy, time and resources into the parts of my lives that are not growing, and whether or not I should prune them out; or, am  I giving everything I’ve got into areas that are already flourishing, giving into the places that I am called to be? Those are my thoughts, Abba. I’m brain dead at this point.”

“You have spoken well, My child. You have conveyed My thoughts well. Now, I want you to summarize what just transpired simply. As you know, simplicity is best when communicating Who I am.”

So, in summary: where we are planted will be in a place where we can draw our inspiration, confidence, hope and security. Just as the prickly cactus is designed for the desert, the willow is designed for beside the river, we were designed by God to be planted in His Word and living in Him. No matter how parched the ground seems around us, there is always fulfillment for us in the Bible. There is inexhaustible light, joy and fulfillment within the pages of The Book–yet how often we still appear to the world as the dull and lifeless seeds.

Don’t be another example of unseen life like the seed because there are too many already. When life has you buried, don’t die! Choose to grow! Remember, God has promised that you are not perishable. Keep cultivating your character. Some years the harvest is abundant; other years the crop fails, but this is a reminder that despite our best efforts, the growth is ultimately Abba’s. We are not in control and just like the seeds, we can plant and we can tend, but we can’t make people grow.

If you’re in a difficult place now–a make-or-break situation in your life–don’t be resistant to change. Change can make many of us fearful or anxious, but yet it’s under pressure and darkness that the seed transforms to the flower, vegetable, fruit, or tree. Think of the pine cone that releases its seeds in a forest fire. It is the intense heat that releases the seeds and allows the forests to regenerate.

If things are not as you believe they should be in your life, then plant a seed of change–embrace a transformation. Let go of the past and embrace the new things that God is doing in your life, and watch your seeds blossom into something that bears much fruit. Then, you can sow bountifully and you will also reap bountifully. (2 Corinthians 9:16)

In a world that can be cruel, judgmental and insensitive, do not grow weary of being kind and truthful. Listen to your moral compass and keep sowing good seed. Ecclesiastes 11:6 says “Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or both will equally proposer.” Take this as encouragement–wherever you are planted and for whomever, you sow seeds to. Do not withhold your hand, because we simply do not know which of the seeds will grow. Keep laboring and don’t be anxious about the results. Keep giving freely, even if sometimes you feel like it is thrown away and lost. Remember God’s seed is alive forever! When we are planted in the Word, we should always be a blessing to others, in everything we do. When our lives are over, we won’t leave a legacy of our own, but we will have left seeds for the Kingdom of God. May our souls be continually watered and kept, that we may flourish in the fruits of the Spirit, in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. As a Christian, it’s your purpose, your calling.

 "It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”
John 5:16-17

Have confidence that no matter what it is that you are going through today, Jesus is always growing you to be a better version of you, a version of you that bears much fruit and blessing for God’s glory, so when life hands you dirt, plant seeds.