“I ordered 100 books,” I told Bill as he lay in his hospital bed. My dear husband didn’t get irritated (even though money was tight); he just kept his mouth shut and prayed a lot. This was during Bill’s first hospital stay last November. At that point, we had no idea he would endure 5 more hospital stays.
Where did the 100 books come from? I love listening to the Compelled Podcast. I heard about the miraculous printing of a 7 of their favorite Christian testimony interviews. People rarely turn down a good story. That’s how we ended up with 100 copies of “Compelled” delivered to our front door.
I don’t think our supply lasted even past Bill’s third hospital stay. I regularly restocked books near his hospital bed. Nurses, doctors, hospital staff, and visitors were gifted copies of. Bill is a rather quiet and shy guy. Amazingly, he found no difficulty in gifting a person a free book.
SCATTERING SEEDS RIGHT AND LEFT
Like the farmer in Mark 4:21-34, we scattered seeds right and left. Our spiel went, “I love the stories in this book. Can I give you a copy?” “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.” We knew we were to spread the seed but didn’t know how God would use it.
MYSTERIOUS POWER OF THE SEED
The parable in Mark emphasizes the mysterious power of the seed to produce a crop. All the farmer can do is plant the seed. He does not necessarily know the soil’s quality or its history. We handed out the books with love and conversation, but like the farmer, we had a lot of unknowns. Neither the farmer nor we could make the seed grow. But by the power of God, we know the seed grows and produces a harvest.
FEAR OF CASTING SEEDS
Sometimes people are afraid of casting seeds. “Susie” dwelt on all the verses of the Bible that she couldn’t remember or didn’t understand. Jesus transformed her life, but fear kept her from opening her mouth and sharing the Gospel. I told her, “Just share your story, how Jesus has impacted your life and changed you for eternity. The verses you do know, combined with your story, are your seed. God works the soil. His seed is powerful.
THE SMALLEST SEED GREW THE LARGEST PLANT
Jesus compares the seed to “a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” David Platt writes: “Put yourself in the disciples’ shoes. This small, ragtag group of disciples heard Jesus say these words. They had no idea that 2,000 years later, billions of people would be brought into the Kingdom that started with that small seed of the gospel.” Platt continues, “Together, we’re a part of a Kingdom that will one day, according to Revelation 7:9-10, include people from every nation, tribe and language, nestled under the branches of this King and this Kingdom.” What a crop!
Trust God to give you a field. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you disperse His seed, whether it is via 100 books delivered to your door, conversations with medical personnel at 3 AM, or talking with a stranger in a checkout line. Obey, stretch out your arm and spread the seed!
Click to listen to the story of the 10ofthem book launch of “Compelled”.