When I married into the Benton family, I got an up close and personal look at life on the farm.  Comer and Myrlene Benton were two of the warmest, inviting people one could ever meet on the earth.   There was always room for an extra plate at the table for someone who might have dropped by.  Grandma Benton was like Martha in scripture, but with a visible outward joy.

Papa Benton’s calloused hands told the story of what a hard worker he was until his sudden death at age seventy-nine.  Papa loved the land.  He thanked God for his land.

The main crop that Papa grew was peanuts.  He had acres and acres of peanuts.  Each year, as he planted his fields, he had no idea exactly how much he would reap when harvest time came.  He did know that without planting seeds in faith, he would never see a harvest.  He did not worry himself with the harvest, that part was up to God.  He did his part by cultivating the soil, sowing the seed, fertilizing, and asking God to bless the seed every year.  Planting seed takes a lot of work, a lot of faith, and a lot of patience.

Some years the crop was better than other years.   It was exciting when the crop was overwhelmingly bountiful, but that wasn’t every year.  Yet, Papa always planted because without the planting of seeds, there was no chance of reaping a harvest. 

A sower went out to sow begins the familiar parable in Matthew thirteen. “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!”  -Matthew 13:3-9.

This story has several facets to it, but most often the emphasis is given to the hearer, and that is totally justifiable.  But for just a moment today, let’s look at the sower.

The sower had a generous supply of seeds and sowed them bountifully.  Some produced a zero harvest, and some produced a bountiful harvest.  The sower did not know which seeds would spring forth with a grandiose harvest.  Regardless of that fact, the sower sowed bountifully.

I find it interesting that as Jesus is sharing this parable, He himself is being a sower.  The first couple of verses in Luke thirteen tell us that a large crowd was listening.  Not everyone in the crowd was going to receive what Jesus was saying, but Jesus said it anyway.  The sower continued to dole out the seeds even in places that did not look promising.

Do you ever tire of spreading seeds?  Perhaps the size of the harvest makes the investment seem not worth the effort.  Have you ever thought:  I don’t want to pray one more prayer for this country.  I don’t want to share God’s love one more time with that rebellious person.  I don’t want to give one more dime to help with the homeless.  I don’t want to teach this children’s class one more Sunday.  I don’t want to be kind one more time to that rude person. I’m done!  I see little or no results. 

Friends, as the Bible says, ”Let us not grow weary in well doing.”  That verse does not mean we will never get tired.  It means let us not grow tired of doing that which is right in God’s sight. 

A harvest awaits us, but we will never see it unless we generously sow seeds.  That’s our part.  God will take care of the harvest part.  As Jesus said at the end of the parable, “You know what I’m saying?”  (Well, maybe He said it a little differently.)  Ultimately, the success of the seeds that we plant is not in our hands, but in the hands of the Holy Spirit.  Our role is simply to plant the seeds, and to trust in God’s promise to help them grow. Harvest is coming.

Relocating to another city is difficult and to another state can be even more challenging.  We did just that in January 2004.  Gaylon was a pastor in Florida but accepted a call to be a chaplain in the Birmingham, Alabama area. I loved living in the state of Florida, so moving was hard for me.

We bought a home in the small community of Helena which is about twenty miles from Birmingham.  Prior moves while serving in ministry were easier because my husband was always a pastor.  This meant there were a lot of people with open arms waiting for our arrival.  People were ready to invite me to lunch, show me around town, and tell me about the best places to shop.   Upon arriving in Helena, there was NONE of that. My husband was a chaplain now, which meant finding our own church home, learning our own way around, finding our own friends.

One day as I went out exploring, I saw a store that caught my eye.  The name of the store was “The Spirit Store.”  (Not the one pictured here.) I was about to pass by the store but quickly made a left-hand turn into the parking lot of The Spirit Store.  I was so happy to find a Christian bookstore to peruse. I excitedly walked into the store with great anticipation!  I could hardly wait to see the latest offering of books, music, and art to hang on the walls of my new home. 

As I walked into the store, I quickly knew that this spirit was not the same Spirit that dwelt in me!  There were many bottles of bourbon, whiskey, rum, wines, and a host of alcoholic beverages of which I had no knowledge.  I exited the store very quickly because I discerned the spirit being offered there, was not the Spirit for which I was looking. 

The Bible says, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1

Today, we are in a time when truth is challenged, rewritten, and often watered down. There are all kinds of voices that try to speak into our ears.  John said that we are to test the spirits to see if they line up with the Spirit of God.  How often this principle is neglected!  Someone comes along sounding pious, knowledgeable, and rhetorically gifted, and we do not check to see if what they are offering is from the right spirit store. 

As believers, we are not to be overly critical, but nor are we to be totally gullible.  John spoke to the church about this in a letter because they were embracing all kinds of teachings that did not line up with the true Gospel.  In this passage, John tells us not to believe every spirit because some spirits are liars.

A discerning spirit is a powerful tool in the arsenal of the believer. It can keep us from error and poor decisions. It will keep us from unhealthy relationships. Having a discerning spirit will stop us from being aligned with demonic spirits. (Yes, they still exist today.) As God’s people, we must have a discerning spirit in this critical time in which we live.

The Scottish pastor, Eric Alexander said, “The only way I know to cultivate a spirit of discernment and true wisdom in being able to tell the difference between truth and error…is a concentrated commitment to the study of Scripture.”  He is right.  A solid foundation in scripture and prayer, accompanied by walking daily with the Spirit will give us discernment.

Don’t be lazy.Test the spirits. Be careful what spirit store you frequent.

Where is my phone?  Have you ever asked yourself that question?  Oh, I’ve asked myself that many times over the years.  I have actually been on the phone talking while feverishly going room to room looking for my phone.  Did I just admit that?

One day, I was about to leave my house, so I went about gathering needed items before departing.  You know what they say:  the adult version of head and shoulders knees and toes is wallet, glasses, keys, and phone.  I found my wallet, glasses, keys, but not my phone. I moved from room to room looking for my phone, but I had no success. 

Fortunately, I wear an Apple watch.  With an Apple watch, I can press a “find your phone” icon and my phone will start beeping, and I can find it.  I pressed the icon and heard the beep which only lasted a few seconds.  I could not find the phone before the beeping stopped, but I could tell it was close by.  I pressed the icon again while walking around my house, but again I could not locate the phone before the beeping stopped.  Determined to locate my phone, I took a few more steps around my house. Once again, I could not find the phone though it was nearby. 

I stopped and asked myself, how could my phone be near every place I was, and yet I cannot see it? I tried for a fourth time, and it dawned on me that the phone was in my pocket.  Everywhere I went, the phone was present even though I did not see it.

As believers, we live by faith and not by sight.  God is present even when we do not see Him.  The words of Jesus assure us that He is always working. “But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” – John 5:17 (NLT).  Now, that’s a promise that we should hang on the refrigerator, the bathroom mirror, by the kitchen sink, and on the dashboard of the car!

Just because we cannot see what God is doing or cannot feel His presence, does not mean that God is not present and working. It does not mean that God has not heard those cries as we prayed to Him. God is working all things together for good even when we don’t see it, even when we don’t feel it, even when it is not evident.

When long seasons of difficulty and heartache come, Satan will begin to whisper in our ears, “Where is God?  Where is God?”   The devil wants our focus to be on the problem we can see and not on the God we cannot see.   

The Psalmist David expressed his feelings about this subject in Psalm thirteen.  David said, “How long are you going to forget me, Lord?  How long am I going to cry out to you with no answer?” 

I’ve felt that, have you?  But David doesn’t leave it there.  He ends the Psalm with these words, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”

The truth is that I want to see and understand everything that God is doing right now. I want to know the whole plan.  But that isn’t how God works. Our circumstances don’t determine if God is working, nor do our feelings. God is always working. What will I do in the season of “how long?”  I am going to keep trusting, keep speaking truth, keep declaring His promises over my life, and like David, I will sing unto the Lord for He has been good to me!

The pain was excruciating.  A couple of times last week, I encountered nocturnal leg cramps in the middle of the night.  Over the years, this has been a battle for me.  Unfortunately, leg cramps happen suddenly and without warning.  Though I had not had them in a while, for two nights cramps attacked both of my calves, causing almost unbearable pain. I drank pickle juice and licked salt. I tried to pray them away, wiggle them away, and wish them away, but to no avail. 

The pain was there. The pain was real.  The pain was bad. I had to walk through the pain until it was over.

Life can be described similarly. Without warning and without mercy, terrible pain enters our lives.   As children of God, we are not exempt from pain.  In fact, the Bible tells us, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” 1 Peter 4:12

In most cases I don’t know what readers of this blog are going through in their personal lives, but this I do know: Life is peppered with all kinds of pain, and each of us will be touched by some kind of pain. While it is nice to confess, “Because I am a child of God, I shall live a pain-free life,” that is simply not reality. 

In the middle of the night, as I was suffering intense leg pain, I got up and walked through the pain.  Eventually, as I walked through the pain, it left me. I still felt the tenderness for a few days, but I walked victoriously through the pain. 

As you walk through pain, God can be trusted to bring you through victoriously.  It might feel tender for a while, but healing comes for the child of God.  Never lose sight of the end of the story.  Jesus willingly suffered the greatest pain because he knew the end of the story, and so do we. Scripture shows us in Revelation 21:3-4:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

In the middle of the night when pain suddenly hit me, I walked through it.  It hurt as I walked through it, but the hurt gave way to healing.  Has your life been hit with enormous pain? Walk through it. Walk through it even when it hurts. Pain does not have the final word in a Christian’s life, God does!

As I sat in the warm Florida sunshine drinking a cup of coffee with a dear friend, I thought, it does not get much better than this! My friend and I had a cup of coffee, but we also had one or more cups of laughter. We sat outside on the patio to enjoy the warm winter temperatures of Florida.

Across the way were a couple of other women enjoying lunch together. In the corner of the fence that the surrounded the patio were two young men just loitering. I really did not give it much thought. Suddenly, one of the men quickly sprinted by the other two women, snatching the purse of one of them. He was long and lanky and quite a speedster and was gone in a dash.

No way was he getting away with stealing what was not his! I quickly got out of my seat with my cell phone in-hand and began to chase him, while calling the 911 operator to explain the situation. Though I could not stop this thief on my own, I continued running and telling them where he was. In a matter of a few moments, the authorities caught him, and the woman got her purse back. When I told my husband the story, he thought I was crazy to chase the thief. I told him that I called those who had the power and authority to catch this thief. I was not in the battle alone. I was running with authority.

Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). According to Jesus, the thief comes to steal, to kill, and destroy. He is standing in the corner of the fence just waiting to steal your joy, to kill your dreams, and to destroy your hope. The thief is against you. God is for you.

Jesus makes an undeniable contrast. I came to take authority over the thief and undo his intentions. “If you follow me, I will give you an abundant life.” The word abundant means superior, extraordinary. That does not mean everyone will be rich and have a swimming pool in the backyard. It does not mean that one will have a problem-free life. It does mean that we can enjoy life to the fullest as we walk with the Lord. It does mean that we have been set free from the bondage of sin, the lies of Satan, and the voice of the world.

The devil wants to control how we live our lives. He does this by planting seeds of doubt and fear. The devil knows that if he can keep us sipping coffee and letting him snatch what God has offered us, we will focus on the negative things around us. The devil will whisper in our ears, “Where is God? What good is praying? Nothing will ever change.” 

Now that you are fully aware that you have an enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy you, what will you do as a child of God?  It’s time for God’s people to rise up from that cup of coffee, run with the authority of Heaven, and stop Satan from wreaking havoc.  The authority of Heaven will give us the power to resist every attack and lie of the devil, and to overcome every strategy that he tries to use against us. Do not let him snatch your purse! Get it back.