Just Keep Sowing
Tess Hughes
I lost a neighbor I’ll call Dee a few months ago. She was older than me, loved animals, was an avid reader and didn’t hesitate to express her opinions. We shared conversation, food, magazines and plants, and cared for one another’s pets when the other was away.
In recent years, Dee struggled with some health issues, notably a pulmonary disease that required her to use oxygen consistently and limited her activities. She once had several pets that kept her busy, but they all passed away, leaving her with one older cat that kept her company.
Dee’s father had been a pastor, but her comments revealed she had had enough of church growing up. However, she still would go on special occasions with family members who lived close by. I had talked to her a bit about God and faith, but never got a clear response that she knew Him. So I continued to sow seeds here and there, do what I could for her, and check in on her. More than once, I would come home to find an envelope at my door with a card and note she had written: “Thanks again for being such a good neighbor . . .” What was nothing special to me was very appreciated by her.
One afternoon Dee’s daughter rang my doorbell while talking frantically on her phone to a 911 dispatcher. She had come to visit her mother and couldn’t get a response. She had no key with her, and the key I had was for the inside door, not the storm door. It was an unbearably hot afternoon that now seems a blur of activity as policemen, medics, the daughter’s husband and pastor, and a few other neighbors waited while the front door lock was broken. But my neighbor was gone. She apparently had fallen during the night and couldn’t get up to get her oxygen or call for help. Surely, her life wasn’t supposed to end this way with her being helpless and alone.
I tried to be supportive of the family, but the circumstances were difficult for me as well, and I struggled. I had not led her in a prayer of commitment to the Lord or seen evidence of a real faith spring in up her heart. Guilt and regret began to settle in. Why couldn’t I have had more time with her? Should I have done more? After several days, I tearfully asked the Lord to let me know He was in control.
Before I got home from work that day, the Holy Spirit brought a Scripture to my mind: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6).
I understood what the Lord was saying to me, although in context, the meaning is different. Dee had had God’s Word planted in her heart from an early age. And I believe that throughout her life, more seeds had been planted and watered through sermons, family members, and friends like me. In her last moments, all alone, I know God was with her, and only He knows what took place, even with a cry, of “Jesus, help me, save me!”
Later that afternoon, I was comforted yet again by a Christian neighbor, as well as by a couple songs I heard on the radio that spoke of Heaven. All were very timely. God had let me know that He indeed was in control, and He lifted the sorrow and burden I was carrying.
Only He can soften hearts by His Spirit. That’s not our job or responsibility. We are meant to be “salt” and “light” in this world. We can plant, we can water, but God brings the increase. At just the right time, we may see it, but we may never see it. I don’t think we realize what an effect our words and actions can have upon someone else, no matter how simple they may seem. So we need to keep sowing those seeds—even if we don’t see the end results. He is Lord of the harvest.
Prayer: “Lord, I know I can’t change anyone’s heart—only You can. But help me to reach out and sow words of love and kindness to those who don’t know you. And once sown, I can’t force the seeds to grow or look beneath the surface to check on them. So I ask You to nurture them by Your Spirit so they will grow and faith will spring up in Your time.”
Song: He Is Lord – Hillsong https://youtu.be/ZEQyvScfNNY
Digging Deeper: Psalm 4:1; Psalm 6:9; Proverbs 21:1