It’s Five Minute Friday time! Yay! Today’s prompt is a hopeful one! It’s “Potential”. I know there are going to be great thoughts shared over at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com so don’t miss out. Just click on over and soak it all in!
“It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” Mark 4:31-32 (NIV) / Pixabay
I love when this happens! You know: when things just unexpectedly fall into place. My husband has a calendar of church sign sayings and last night he brought this one home to me:
“Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed.”
My response was that it was a good one and I hoped I’d be able to use it sometime. It never occurred to me that “sometime” would be now, but when Kate revealed that the prompt for today is “Potential”, this church sign saying immediately came to mind. I’d call that a “God Wink” wouldn’t you?
Go back and read the saying again. Let it settle in. God knows how many apples a tiny seed will produce! Stop and ponder on that for a moment….a small seed grows into a tree. The tree produces fruit; not just once but season after season for its lifetime! Amazing isn’t it? There’s potential within that little seed for harvests that will nourish generation after generation!
And isn’t that exactly what God does? Finds potential in little.
“His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.” Matthew 15: 33-37 (NIV)
Potential in little. The disciples were panicked when Jesus suggested they feed the more than five thousand people around them. They looked at the small amount they had and saw impossibility. Jesus however, looked upon the meager offering and saw a nourishing feast that would be talked about for generation after generation.
Jesus also taught lessons about the mustard seed. He used the smallest of all seeds on earth as an example to His disciples and to us, that great things can come from tiny beginnings; not just a large, strong plant, but the great harvest in the Kingdom of Heaven and our “mountain moving” faith.
How often do we shrink from doing something, something maybe God is calling us to do, because we feel too insignificant to make a difference or that what we have to offer just isn’t enough? I know I have more times than I’d like to admit. The truth is, on our own we are lacking; but with God our insufficiency is a seed with the potential to bear fruit for our lifetime!
Yes, God can count the apples in a seed, provide a banquet using a snack, and even see beyond our small grain of faith to what it will one day become. So, the next time you or I feel we don’t measure up to His call, let’s remind ourselves that our God is a God of possibility. After all, He IS the one who sent a tiny baby to save the whole world! His Perfect Potential in little.