Sowing Hope One Seed At a Time

Sowing hope is required if you are going to grow hope. You can’t reap what you don’t sow.

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The Book of Job Shares Hope

I like the Book of Job. It’s one of my favorite books when I’m reading through Scripture each quarter. I read it a bit differently than most of the people I encounter. I see consistent reminders that we need to be invested in sowing hope because we reap what we sow.

Job 4:8 They plow iniquity and sow wickedness

While on its surface it may not seem like hope, it is a verse that declares you reap what you sow.

What Are You Sowing?

Veronica Mars fans Kickstarted a movie that was going to tie up all the loose ends Marshmallows were lacking because of the abrupt end of the show. Before the movie came out, my husband had the brilliant idea that we could stream all of the seasons so we would be ready.

So we did . . . which is to say I did. He slept. But for the next week, I went to sleep with the Veronica Mars theme song haunting me and woke up with the same theme song taunting me.

I sowed a LOT of that theme song and I was reaping it for that effort.

If I ever get to the place where a theme song or idea is following me around, I evaluate what I’ve been putting in so I can make adjustments.

If I want hope, then I have to sow hope because no matter how you look at it, the truth is the truth. You will reap what you sow and you can’t reap what you don’t sow.

Want hope? There’s one path to get it.

How Do You Sow Hope?

• You need to understand the seeds
• You need to avoid seed envy
• You need to know the best place for planting the seeds
• You need to know the best WAY for planting the seeds
• You need to plant the seeds

Every package of seeds comes with planting rules . . . or in the case of many gardeners, they come with suggestions. Because the more you garden, the more you understand that the rules can be modified as you need – it just sometimes takes more work to make it work.

Step One – Understanding the Seeds

All hope seeds are not created equal. You have to understand the seeds that are created for your garden. What do your hope seeds look like?

I went to the mailbox one day already disheartened. I knew the only thing I’d find was a box full of people demanding money. It had been that kind of a week. But when I opened the box, there was a square envelope – and bills never came in that shape.

When I opened the envelope, I found a simple note: I Love You. God

The card also included a twenty dollar bill – which was just what I needed to get the grocery necessities.

God had send me a note and some cash – what a shift of hope from what I had expected.

I recognized that written words and a small act of kindness fueled my hope for the day, so I try to make time to share written words (handwritten and sent by snail mail) and little acts of kindness.

It turns out our hope seeds often resemble the very things that have given us hope in the past or the very ways we have shared hope.

Step Two – Avoid Seed Envy

Your hope seeds are not my hope seeds and mine are not yours. Even if they are similar, the details will be different because you and I are different.

When we compare hope seeds to the others around us, we have to dig them up. When you dig up your hope seeds, you stunt their growth.

Don’t dig up your hope seeds by trying to compare yours with others.

Step Three – Where Do You Place the Seeds?

Do you scatter seeds or do you intentionally place them in their spot? Do you scatter seeds along the path or do you place them in the well-tilled garden?

Matthew 13 tells us that there will be different results for seeds scattered in the weeds, the rocks, the path, and the garden.

Fertile ground for hope seeds produces the best hope growth.

Step Four – When and How Do You Place the Seeds?

Different seeds will need different soil.

When I was actively planting a vegetable garden, there were years when I would cover the ground to warm it up so I could plan earlier than was suggested by the seed packets.

The same is true for your hope seeds. You can modify the ground where you are planted to get the hope results you need, but it always works best when you plant in the ideal spots.

My husband wants you to pay attention to him whether he’s sharing his hope or sharing for your hope. I have to pull away from what I’m doing or I will keep working – which stifles his hope.

When and how should you be planting your hope seeds?

Step Five – Plant Your Seeds

There is just no way around it. You have to sow if you want to reap. That means if you want to get hope you have to sow hope.

The most important step for sowing seeds of hope in your life and for your life is to actually plant those seeds.

You can think about it.

You can plan for it.

You can talk about it.

But until you intentionally plant those seeds, you won’t have hope to harvest.

Sowing Seeds of Hope

Life doesn’t always cooperate. The world throws storms in your path. The going gets tough. If you are going to keep going when things aren’t:

Nothing feels right

Nothing seems right

Nothing works right

Nothing seems true

You need hope. The only way to harvest hope is to sow hope in your life, for your life, and all around your life.

How will you sow hope?