There are times in our lives when God places a dream (a revelation, a vision or a seed) on our hearts, and that dream is just for us. However, in our overzealousness, we could end up prematurely disclosing God’s secret plans for our lives and risk possibly delaying or missing out on the very blessing that He has in store for us. While we know that God’s plan for our lives will always prevail and that all things will eventually work for our good, we must also acknowledge that our actions, because of the impact of free will, could also cause hindrances and delays.
It Starts With a Seed
God seldom places fully-formulated dreams and ideas in our hearts. He typically gives us visions in the form of seeds—seeds that we need to cultivate and nurture. Consequentially, when we prematurely divulge our seed before it has had the chance to mature, we risk premature development. We also risk losing our seed to other fertile ground.
In the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus spoke about the parable of the Sower and the Seed. In the passage, Jesus made it clear that in order for God’s seed to thrive in our lives, we must have fertile ground, a hospitable environment, and a strong foundation.
“As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times,” (v. 4-8).
The Fate of the Seed
The seed in the Parable of the Sower suffered four fates. In the first scenario, the seed completely missed the mark, and prey devoured it. In the second scenario, the seed grew too quickly and developed shallow roots. The weakened foundation resulted in death when struck by the sun. In the third scenario, the seed fell into a hostile environment, was choked by the thorns, and was rendered barren by them. In the final scenario, the seed fell on good soil and became fruitful.
Keep Your Dreams to Yourself
There will be times in our lives when God places a revelation in our hearts, and we will need to keep that vision hidden until it has had time to develop a firm network of roots. We should allow God to complete his development process before we make any disclosures. Anyone who has ever ventured into gardening understands that a sucker has to remain in a stable, controlled environment before it is able to withstand transplantation. The same is true of our visions. God has to properly develop our visions before they can withstand exposure and atmospheric pressure.
Establish Roots
When the disciples asked Jesus to explain the parable of the farmer, he said this:
“Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown,” (v. 15-20).
Develop a Firm Foundation
In order for seeds to grow, the environment must be favorable. The seed must also develop a firmly established root structure. The best growth typically occurs in isolation. It’s usually during those quiet, sequestered times when God refines our skills and our characters. One of the reasons why it might appear that individuals with whom we have shared our dream seem to be walking in the manifestation of our vision is that God might have previously anchored their roots. They might have already been standing on fertile ground and was ready to bear fruit. Another reason could be that those individuals are like the bird that swooped in and stole the seed or the thorn that strangled it. That is why exercising discernment is important when disclosing God’s promises (seeds) in our lives.
Shut Your Mouth
Another reason to remain silent while God develops our seed is because premature confessions can sometimes breed fear and discouragement. If we want to maintain the dreams that God has placed in our hearts, we are going to have to exercise discernment and learn to keep our mouths shut until the appointed time. In the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah, Zechariah had to do just that. Unfortunately, it wasn’t by choice. When the angels told Zechariah that Elizabeth was pregnant, Zechariah began to voice his fears. In response, the angel muted Zechariah until after Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
Keeping our dreams to ourselves until the appointed time prevents us from speaking fear into our situation. Perhaps there are some things that we are just going to have to learn to keep to ourselves until due season. We need to allow God to bring our dreams (seeds) to fruition before we go blabbing our mouths. By being quiet, we will enable God to work on refining us so we can bear fruit.
Similar Post:
12 Tips to Overcome Negative Words
Biblical Reference
New International Bible. (2011). The NIV Bible. https://www.thenivbible.com (Original work published 1978)