The Garden of Blessing: Rooted to Grow in Blessing
The Garden of Blessings: From Seed to Feast
Part 3: Rooted to Grow in Blessing
Have you ever stood in a freshly planted field, staring at what appears to be nothing but dirt? To the untrained eye, it looks barren, empty, unproductive. But a farmer knows better. Beneath that seemingly lifeless surface, a miracle is taking place. Seeds are cracking open. Tender roots are stretching downward, anchoring deeply into the soil. Life is stirring in the darkness where no one can see it.
This invisible, underground work is precisely what God was doing when He called a man named Abram (later renamed Abraham). In a world where blessing had been corrupted by sin, God took the seed of His promise and planted it in the soil of one man's heart. But unlike Adam, who chose the soil of unbelief, Abraham offered God something different—the rich, receptive soil of faith.
"Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you," God commanded in Genesis 12:1. Imagine that conversation! "Abraham, pack up everything and leave behind everything familiar." "Where to, Lord?" "I'll let you know when we get there."
That's not a small ask, is it? Yet Genesis 12:4 simply states, "So Abram went, as the LORD had told him." In that pivotal moment, Abraham chose to believe God was trustworthy. He decided the Master Gardener knew what He was doing, even when the destination wasn't clear. This wasn't blind faith—it was faith with eyes wide open to the character of the One making the promise.
And what magnificent things did God promise to grow in this soil of faith?
First, LAND—a homeland where Abraham's descendants could flourish. "To your offspring I will give this land," God declared, pointing to Canaan.
Second, DESCENDANTS—a family so numerous they'd be like stars scattered across the night sky. "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be" (Genesis 15:5).
Third, BLESSING—not just for Abraham, but flowing through him to "all peoples on earth" (Genesis 12:3). Abraham wasn't meant to hoard blessing; he was to be a channel through which God's goodness would spread worldwide. He was blessed to be a blessing.
But here's where faith gets tested: almost none of this happened in Abraham's lifetime.
The LAND? Abraham remained a nomad, living in tents, owning nothing but a burial plot he purchased himself.
The DESCENDANTS? For decades, his tent remained childless. Sarah's womb was as barren as drought-stricken soil. The promised heir didn't arrive until Abraham was 100 years old—well past natural childbearing years.
The worldwide BLESSING? Abraham couldn't possibly imagine how that would ever happen.
Farmers, you understand this kind of waiting, don't you? You invest everything—seed, sweat, resources, hope—into soil that gives no immediate return. Days pass. Weeks drag on. Nothing breaks the surface. The neighbor's field already shows green shoots while yours looks empty. Would anyone blame you for wondering if something went wrong?
That's what Abraham and Sarah faced—year after year of seeing no visible evidence of God's promise being fulfilled. And in that waiting, they did what we often do—they tried to speed things up. "Maybe God needs our help," they thought. So, Sarah offered her servant Hagar to Abraham, thinking they could jumpstart God's promise through human ingenuity. The result? Conflict, jealousy, and pain that echoed through generations.
It's like a farmer getting impatient and digging up seeds to see if they're growing—destroying the very process they're trying to accelerate. When we take shortcuts around God's timing, we create messes He never intended.
Yet the remarkable thing about Abraham's story isn't his perfect faith—it's God's perfect faithfulness despite Abraham's imperfect faith. When Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister (twice!), God protected her. When Abraham questioned how God would fulfill His promise, God reaffirmed His covenant with dramatic signs. When Abraham and Sarah laughed at the idea of having a child in their old age, God gave them laughter in the form of Isaac, whose name literally means "he laughs."
Through it all, something profound was happening beneath the surface. Like roots growing deeper before a shoot ever appears above ground, Abraham's faith was being strengthened in the darkness, in the waiting. Each challenge, each delay, each failure pushed his faith to reach deeper into God's character.
This is what Paul would later write about: "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised" (Romans 4:20-21).
The soil of Abraham's heart—his choice to believe God—allowed the seed of promise to take root. Not quickly. Not easily. But deeply and durably. And while Abraham never saw the full harvest in his lifetime—the millions of descendants, the established nation, the worldwide blessing through Jesus Christ—he trusted the Gardener who had planted the seed.
This is our challenge too. Faith means trusting that God is working even when we see nothing happening. It means believing that beneath the surface of our disappointments, delays, and difficulties, God is developing roots that will one day support an abundant harvest. It means rejecting quick fixes and human shortcuts that bypass God's deeper work in us.
Think about your own life right now. Where are you waiting for God to fulfill a promise? Maybe it's restoration in a relationship, breakthrough in a difficult situation, or guidance for an uncertain future. The surface may look barren—no visible progress, no clear signs of change. But if you've planted your trust in God, be assured: roots are growing beneath the surface pushing your faith to reach deeper into God's character.
The waiting is hard, isn't it? Like Abraham, we're tempted to take matters into our own hands, to find shortcuts around God's timing. But Abraham's story whispers: "Wait. Trust. The Master Gardener knows what He's doing."
God doesn't waste the waiting. He uses it to deepen our roots in Him so that when the harvest comes—and it will come—it will be stronger and more abundant than anything our shortcuts could produce. Abraham never saw the full harvest in his lifetime, but he died in faith, believing that the God who plants seeds keeps His promises in His perfect timing.
So, when you're standing in a field that looks empty, remember: God is a master of the unseen work, developing roots before shoots, laying foundations before building walls. Your faith—your choice to trust Him even without visible evidence—is the soil where His greatest blessings take root.
Today's Reflection
Where in your life are you tempted to take shortcuts around God's timing? What might it look like to trust God's unseen work in that situation today?
Prayer
Father, thank You for Abraham's example of faith despite the long wait. I confess my impatience when I can't see You working on the surface. Help me trust Your unseen work beneath the soil of my circumstances. When I'm tempted to take matters into my own hands, remind me that Your timing is perfect, and Your methods are wise. Deepen the roots of my faith during this waiting season, that I might one day bear fruit that truly blesses others. Help me to be fully persuaded, like Abraham, that what You have promised, You are able to perform. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Join us next week as we explore how Jacob was "Pruned to Bear Blessing" through surrender rather than scheming.
Part 3: Rooted to Grow in Blessing
Have you ever stood in a freshly planted field, staring at what appears to be nothing but dirt? To the untrained eye, it looks barren, empty, unproductive. But a farmer knows better. Beneath that seemingly lifeless surface, a miracle is taking place. Seeds are cracking open. Tender roots are stretching downward, anchoring deeply into the soil. Life is stirring in the darkness where no one can see it.
This invisible, underground work is precisely what God was doing when He called a man named Abram (later renamed Abraham). In a world where blessing had been corrupted by sin, God took the seed of His promise and planted it in the soil of one man's heart. But unlike Adam, who chose the soil of unbelief, Abraham offered God something different—the rich, receptive soil of faith.
"Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you," God commanded in Genesis 12:1. Imagine that conversation! "Abraham, pack up everything and leave behind everything familiar." "Where to, Lord?" "I'll let you know when we get there."
That's not a small ask, is it? Yet Genesis 12:4 simply states, "So Abram went, as the LORD had told him." In that pivotal moment, Abraham chose to believe God was trustworthy. He decided the Master Gardener knew what He was doing, even when the destination wasn't clear. This wasn't blind faith—it was faith with eyes wide open to the character of the One making the promise.
And what magnificent things did God promise to grow in this soil of faith?
First, LAND—a homeland where Abraham's descendants could flourish. "To your offspring I will give this land," God declared, pointing to Canaan.
Second, DESCENDANTS—a family so numerous they'd be like stars scattered across the night sky. "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be" (Genesis 15:5).
Third, BLESSING—not just for Abraham, but flowing through him to "all peoples on earth" (Genesis 12:3). Abraham wasn't meant to hoard blessing; he was to be a channel through which God's goodness would spread worldwide. He was blessed to be a blessing.
But here's where faith gets tested: almost none of this happened in Abraham's lifetime.
The LAND? Abraham remained a nomad, living in tents, owning nothing but a burial plot he purchased himself.
The DESCENDANTS? For decades, his tent remained childless. Sarah's womb was as barren as drought-stricken soil. The promised heir didn't arrive until Abraham was 100 years old—well past natural childbearing years.
The worldwide BLESSING? Abraham couldn't possibly imagine how that would ever happen.
Farmers, you understand this kind of waiting, don't you? You invest everything—seed, sweat, resources, hope—into soil that gives no immediate return. Days pass. Weeks drag on. Nothing breaks the surface. The neighbor's field already shows green shoots while yours looks empty. Would anyone blame you for wondering if something went wrong?
That's what Abraham and Sarah faced—year after year of seeing no visible evidence of God's promise being fulfilled. And in that waiting, they did what we often do—they tried to speed things up. "Maybe God needs our help," they thought. So, Sarah offered her servant Hagar to Abraham, thinking they could jumpstart God's promise through human ingenuity. The result? Conflict, jealousy, and pain that echoed through generations.
It's like a farmer getting impatient and digging up seeds to see if they're growing—destroying the very process they're trying to accelerate. When we take shortcuts around God's timing, we create messes He never intended.
Yet the remarkable thing about Abraham's story isn't his perfect faith—it's God's perfect faithfulness despite Abraham's imperfect faith. When Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister (twice!), God protected her. When Abraham questioned how God would fulfill His promise, God reaffirmed His covenant with dramatic signs. When Abraham and Sarah laughed at the idea of having a child in their old age, God gave them laughter in the form of Isaac, whose name literally means "he laughs."
Through it all, something profound was happening beneath the surface. Like roots growing deeper before a shoot ever appears above ground, Abraham's faith was being strengthened in the darkness, in the waiting. Each challenge, each delay, each failure pushed his faith to reach deeper into God's character.
This is what Paul would later write about: "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised" (Romans 4:20-21).
The soil of Abraham's heart—his choice to believe God—allowed the seed of promise to take root. Not quickly. Not easily. But deeply and durably. And while Abraham never saw the full harvest in his lifetime—the millions of descendants, the established nation, the worldwide blessing through Jesus Christ—he trusted the Gardener who had planted the seed.
This is our challenge too. Faith means trusting that God is working even when we see nothing happening. It means believing that beneath the surface of our disappointments, delays, and difficulties, God is developing roots that will one day support an abundant harvest. It means rejecting quick fixes and human shortcuts that bypass God's deeper work in us.
Think about your own life right now. Where are you waiting for God to fulfill a promise? Maybe it's restoration in a relationship, breakthrough in a difficult situation, or guidance for an uncertain future. The surface may look barren—no visible progress, no clear signs of change. But if you've planted your trust in God, be assured: roots are growing beneath the surface pushing your faith to reach deeper into God's character.
The waiting is hard, isn't it? Like Abraham, we're tempted to take matters into our own hands, to find shortcuts around God's timing. But Abraham's story whispers: "Wait. Trust. The Master Gardener knows what He's doing."
God doesn't waste the waiting. He uses it to deepen our roots in Him so that when the harvest comes—and it will come—it will be stronger and more abundant than anything our shortcuts could produce. Abraham never saw the full harvest in his lifetime, but he died in faith, believing that the God who plants seeds keeps His promises in His perfect timing.
So, when you're standing in a field that looks empty, remember: God is a master of the unseen work, developing roots before shoots, laying foundations before building walls. Your faith—your choice to trust Him even without visible evidence—is the soil where His greatest blessings take root.
Today's Reflection
Where in your life are you tempted to take shortcuts around God's timing? What might it look like to trust God's unseen work in that situation today?
Prayer
Father, thank You for Abraham's example of faith despite the long wait. I confess my impatience when I can't see You working on the surface. Help me trust Your unseen work beneath the soil of my circumstances. When I'm tempted to take matters into my own hands, remind me that Your timing is perfect, and Your methods are wise. Deepen the roots of my faith during this waiting season, that I might one day bear fruit that truly blesses others. Help me to be fully persuaded, like Abraham, that what You have promised, You are able to perform. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Join us next week as we explore how Jacob was "Pruned to Bear Blessing" through surrender rather than scheming.
Posted in Genesis
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