Let’s continue in our study of The Parable of the Sower! Remember for the purpose of this study, we are viewing it as the stages we will go through to see PERSONAL promises from God grow and bring a harvest of fruit in our lives.
Up to this point in working through whatever circumstance we might be facing, we have learned to seek God for His wisdom until we have heard from Him and understand His will in the matter. We meditate on His truths and become confident to ask without doubt that God’s will be accomplished. We then joyously believe that God has granted our prayer and that the fulfillment is in route to us!
This is something we must BELIEVE because when God grants our request, it is in spiritual form. There will most likely be a period of TIME between our prayer and its earthly manifestation.
In light of this parable, our seed of faith is growing and beginning to bear fruit, which is the visible evidence of our believing in the form of words and actions, which the Bible calls “works.”
At the point we confidently pray in faith, we officially enter the phase of thorns. Yes, THORNS! Inheriting the things of the kingdom is a fight of faith to the finish! Although we’re told in Luke 12:32 that it gives God great pleasure to give us His Kingdom, Matthew 11:12 says we are to POSSESS our inheritance. The book of Timothy also instructs us to seize the blessings of God.
1 Timothy 6:12- “Fight the good fight of faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith]] in the presence of many witnesses.”
During this phase of thorns, we will experience many distractions coming against our mind.
The enemy has done everything he can do to KEEP US FROM BELIEVING God’s words. Now that he sees we are firm in our trust and have prayed in faith, he begins to shift his focus towards CHOKING OUT OUR BELIEF by introducing new things to consume our mind.
Whatever thoughts we focus on in this earthly realm will grow and become center stage in our mind. As we shift our focus to these distractions, the life in the words God has given us is in danger of suffocation and being choked out like a thorny vine entwining itself up a tree.
Here is a compilation of verses describing the battle our hearts will go through in this phase from Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8.
This is the one sown with seed among the thorns and the thorns grew up with it. This is the one who hears the word, and the CARES of the world and the DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES and the DESIRES for OTHER THINGS ENTERING IN, CHOKE the word, and it becomes unfruitful and BRINGS NO FRUIT TO MATURITY.
All of us are well aware of how quickly the cares of life can rush in and consume our mind. Unexpected stresses at work, family tension, financial pressure, bad reports from the doctor, and uncertainties in the world around us scream loudly, demanding our attention.
There is also the luring trap of pleasures in this world drawing our minds away from the things of God. This can be the consuming pursuit of money, businesses, hobbies, new relationships, and anything else that begins to take first place in our mind.
Our enemy’s desire in sending these distractions is to DIVIDE our attention. If he can get our attention, he can invade our confidence in what God has promised us. The things we have become so sure of can quickly veer out of focus and become unclear.
The word “cares” mentioned in the parable is “merimna,” which means “to be drawn in different directions, to be broken into pieces, divided, distracted.”
Whenever the Lord gives you a breakthrough, sharing a personal word that brings you joy and peace, there will be a distraction on its way to shift your focus off of your revelation.
In the last devotional, we looked at the Bible story of the woman with the issue of blood. Just prior to her stopping Jesus in His tracks with her emboldened faith, a synagogue leader named Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet and pleaded with Him to come and lay His hands on his daughter, who was near death.
Delighted that this religious leader had great faith, Jesus began following him home to heal His daughter. Imagine the joy and relief of this man! But soon a distraction would invade His mind and come against His trust as Jesus began looking around for the woman who had drawn healing power out of Him.
“While He (Jesus) was still speaking (to the woman with the issue of blood), people came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, ‘Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher further? ’But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, ‘Do not be afraid, ONLY BELIEVE.’” Mark 5:35-36 (emphasis mine)
Jesus is telling us this same thing today! “Never allow anything (good or bad) to shift your focus. Keep your eyes solely on Me and what I have told you!”
We cannot give 1st place to two different messages at the same time! We must remain vigilant to pursue ONLY what God has spoken to us:
Proverbs 4:27 – “Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.”
Deuteronomy 4:9 – “Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live…”
1 John 2:15– “Do not LOVE this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.”
Hebrews 2:1 – “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”
James 4:8 – “Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you DOUBLE minded.”
Satan knows the value of the promises we are carrying in our heart. He senses the fulfillment growing closer. He doesn’t want God’s words manifesting for all to see!
There will be times when we will say, “I can’t hear anything from God right now. I have drifted off course. My trust has been shaken and my path has grown dark.” Be assured God has not gone anywhere! He is waiting for us to shift our focus back onto Him. We will feel Him draw us close as we welcome afresh the light of HIS TRUTH into our hearts.