“Very truly I say to you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (Jn. 12:24)
I want to talk about when hope seems to die. All of us have had a dream, a hope, a project we really believed in seem to fall to the ground and die. We were so sure that it was from God and it was something great and then it seems to vanish like a puff of smoke. This happened to Joseph when his brothers sold him into slavery. To Mary when her brother died, and of course to Jesus when he went to the cross. He spoke these words in John 12:24 shortly before his death. “Very truly I say to you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” He told them that God works through death and resurrection. This is of course what happened with Jesus.
One of the hardest places to have hope is when our dreams die. This is happening in a lot of ways during this corona crisis. But Jesus reminds us that with Him our dreams and hopes that pass away are like seeds. They are buried not to be lost but to be resurrected. Maybe not in the same form or in the time we hoped for, but in a way that is greater than we may ever know on this side of Heaven. Many don’t realize that their greatest accomplishment in life might not have been their success but their seeds. My Dad and Mom had a disappointing attempt at being missionaries 60 years ago. They came home from the field feeling like they had failed. But they sowed the seeds in missions in their kids’ hearts and mission ministry is exploding now through us and their grandkids.
Joseph had no idea that the death of his dream would mean he would be the ruler of Egypt that would save his entire nation and many nations from starvation. Let me encourage you that with God our disappointments become His divine appointments to do things greater than we could ever imagine. Whether the death of your dream was a marriage, a ministry, a business, a miscarriage, a bankruptcy, God isn’t finished yet. I recently heard of a couple who went to Africa in the last century. The wife died after 6 months and the husband returned defeated. But a young preteen girl was saved during their short time there. She went on to Bible School and became a church planter and evangelist. It was reported that over 10,000 were brought to the Lord through her ministry.
Hope never dies it just resurrects!
Dale
To watch a short video on the subject, please go to: https://bit.ly/2xDh1en
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