“So let it grow…” (James 1:4)
What is growing in your life? What grows will determine the seeds that you
have sown. Are you learning to trust,
or are you looking on what others have in lust?
Are you trying hard, to push another yard? Or have you learned to sow,
seeds that over time will grow?
As the earth is watered by rain
and snow, know that the Word is like a seed that He sends out and will
grow. His Word has power to accomplish
what is wonderous, making your life impact thunderous. Someone plants, another waters, but it is God
that causes us it to grow in His sons and daughters.
So you will go out in joy and be
led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills parting before you as you wear
His victory wreath. Instead of thorns and
thistles, you will know, how God hears your prayers and loves you so. You will flourish in all that you put your
hands to, as an everlasting sign that He is Faithful and True. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth
in peace, wearing His crown, His victory wreath.
God causes us to flourish. It is in the seed of His Word. We will be fruitful and multiply, ruling the
earth. This is the blessing that God
gave man on the 6th day of creation in Genesis 1:28. This blessing
is the essence of flourishing.
The root of the word flourishing
is from flower, florir, to bloom.[1] As
Jesus is The Door and Stairway to Heaven, flourishing results from abiding with
Christ through the Holy Spirit releasing the Kingdom and a fragrant aroma of
Christ in the world. Daniela Augustine
notes that the divine call of humanity is to flourish by becoming Christ in the
flesh for the sake of others, until they are fully filled with his life. She notes that our lives become “a healing,
incarnate Word, applied as a balm to the wounds of a broken world” through the
agency of the Holy Spirit.[2]
And with ruling the earth, flourishing
is a significant outcome and evidence of being led by the Spirit. Tim Geoffrion
points out its centrality in Spirit-led leadership. He notes, whenever there is undue focus and
value on achievement, appearance, and status, there is increasing pressure to
perform for people rather than being guided by God. An overemphasis on outcomes will often
undermine one’s ability to create a positive, constructive, and spiritually
rich environment that results in flourishing of the people and the overarching
organization.[3]
Fruit, G2590 (karpos),
is built in to being fruitful. Strong’s
Lexicon notes that, “The term can also be applied metaphorically to describe
prosperity, growth, or success in various endeavor.” [4] And
to multiply, H7235 (rabah) means to “be, or become, much, many, great.”[5]
I love this term of multiplying
has more to do with being and becoming than it does with doing; It describes
the essence of the karpos (fruit) of the Spirit. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is at the
root, and is the essence of flourishing.
It is bearing, being, and becoming love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22).
Kneisha Sanders notes that the
essence of being a Spirit-led leader it “to walk in the Spirit by influencing
people through the fruit of the Spirit.”
Here she is noting the importance of influence as part of
leadership. It is the essence of ruling. And this influence comes through bearing
fruit. As she writes, the fruit of the
Spirit can only be produced by God [6]. This is the opposite that was produced by sin
when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and men began
to “rule over” their wives in domination.
As we are being led to rule or
subdue the earth, our influence comes by the fruit God produces in us that
spills over to those around us. Living by the Spirit and taking dominion,
opposite of domination, we are to “serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians
5:13). Paul reminds us that the entire
gospel is fulfilled in loving one another as yourself (Galatians 5:14).
So what is our part in causing
flourishing? Sanders writes that “If you
are a leader feeling drained, defeated, and concerned instead of having energy,
courage, and vigor, then you are experiencing the deeds of the flesh instead of
the fruit of the Spirit” [7]. In this
sense, the question comes back to what seeds we are sowing.
If we are living in the love of
God and giving it away to others around us, we will have influence in our
leadership through the fruit of the Spriit.
The seeds we sow, will ultimately grow, creating more fruit than we
possibly know. It is not by our might or
power, but by the Spirit that we see, all that God purposes us to be.
Are we praying, full of the potency
of the Word or are we complaining? If we
sow to the flesh in discord, domination, accusation, or envy, we will reap according
to our activities. Like the grinch, our
heart will begin to shrink inch after inch. And later, when we are in a pinch,
we will find that we just can’t give an inch.
I love that in this past week’s
sermon, one of our pastors noted that he loves to tip 30%. It seems pretty extravagant. But he
notes that he does not do it because of the exceptional service or the kindness
of the people who serve him. Rather he
does it out of being who he is and the resolution he has to do this. He is sowing seeds of generosity.
Galatians 6:9 tells us, “So let us
not get tired of doing what is good. At
just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we do not give up.” This tells us that seeds of goodness of any
kind will bear a harvest. Coming back to God’s original blessing over us, this
harvest is to be fruitful, multiple and rule over (influence) the earth.
He may not see direct results now,
but as he sows these seeds, they are bearing spiritual fruit in his life. His generosity causes him to flourish. His seeds of love, care, compassion, kindness,
and gentleness are not overlooked. This
is a perfect example of what I heard in the Spirit yesterday. As I was listening to the prayer room, they
began to sing, “He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. Wisdom will be justified.”
I long to bear more fruit in my
life. But this fruit will come about by
walking more in the Spirit, learning a greater posturing of my thoughts and
attention towards God [8] and sowing seeds, than getting the right break or getting
my life activities organized. The Holy
Spirit helps me to be, all the Father has purposed for me. Love
is an invite, not a duty.
Bill Johnson writes that it is “our
relationship of surrender to Jesus through the Holy Spirit that gives Him the
place of influence over our lives to the point that His nature [fruit of the
Spirit] is seen in and through us.” [9]
Surrender comes out of a place of
difficulty. It is when the storm hits
that we have the choice of trying to solve it in our own strength or trusting
that God has it and will carry us through.
Our strength does not come from our circumstances but from the
Lord. It is Him that gives us the power
to endure and stretch and grow in faith.
When I found out that my husband was
losing his sight, trusting just seemed like the only viable option. And, as we trusted, God carried us both
through. He has done amazing things in
the midst of it. I grew so much from it. And God paid off all my debt at the
time in a matter of months so I would be set with one income. So I
am left asking myself why I struggle now so much with my son’s kidney issues?
When we first got my middle son
when he was seven, they told me that he would most likely need a kidney
transplant. With such faith, I said to
myself, we’ll pray about that. And over
all his young years, his kidneys sustained and never dropped a bit. But then suddenly as he turned 18, his
kidneys have dropped substantially on two occasions. Besides this, the state is dropping the insurance
they promised to cover his kidneys as he turned 18. It feels like they just left me hanging over
a cliff.
I struggle with feeling
overwhelmed by the whole thing and have a hard time trusting. But years ago when we learned about my
husband going blind, it was the same type of disaster report. They said he would be totally blind in 5
years and then he lost his job on top of it.
And it did not turn out to be a disaster at all. He is the best stay-at-home
dad ever and does a wonderful job caring for our boys (and me). Besides this, he can still see to get around
the house and go places with me.
So why now do I struggle so much now
with the kidney issue? Ironically, my
son with the kidney issues is not having a hard time trusting at all. He is perfectly fine and I am totally
stressed. He had a conversation with me
about my need to trust the Lord with all of it like him. He said we could do it together. His whole
life has been a place of surrender. From
living homeless in place to place, to various medical care, and then getting
new parents everything else that goes with it, he has embraced the unknown with
such grace and faith. When difficulty comes, it never ceases to amaze me that he
just floats with such confidence in God.
While I know that life is meant to
be an adventure with God, I feel like I am in the raft going down the rapids
while white knuckling it, hanging on to the side with all my strength. I feel afraid to let go and think that I
will go flying out unprotected. What I
need to remember is that He has a firm grip on me and will not let me go. He has this situation like He has had every
situation before this.
Lord, help me to loosen my grip
and learn to let go. I want to trust you
more. Grow my faith. Help us to live in
a place of surrender that trusts you with all that we face with faith and
confidence in Your goodness. And through
everything, let us sow good seeds and bear good fruit, flourishing and causing
all around us to flourish.
1. Online
Etymology Dictionary. Flourish. Located
at: flourish | Etymology of flourish by etymonline. Last Accessed: 2/24/2025.
2. Daniela
C. Augustine. The Spirit and the Common
Good: Shared Flourishing in the Image of
God. (William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2019).
Pgs. 19 & 33.
3. Timothy
C Geoffrion, The Spirit-Led Leader: Nine Leadership Practices and Soul
Principles. The Alban Institute,
Herndon, VA. 2005.
4. Strong's
Hebrew: 6509. פָּרָה (parah) -- To bear fruit, be fruitful, increase
5. Strong's Hebrew: 7235. רָבָה
(rabah) -- To increase, to multiply, to become many, to grow
6-8. Kneisha Sanders. The Fruit of a Spirit-Led Leader:
Characteristics of Jesus Displayed in Business Through the Power of the Holy
Spirit.
9. Bill Johnson.
In The Water: 60 Days in the Overflowing Presence of the Holy Spirit. (Witaker
House, New Kensington, PA. 2024).
Comments