The Blade, The Head, and The Corn

And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Mark 4:26‭-‬29 NKJV

A couple of weeks back I had a number of things bothering my mind and I knew that it was not something my emotions could help me handle by myself. So, I decided to go into the word and I went through some bible plans on the YouVersion Bible app related to what I was experiencing. When I started those plans, I had an expectation in my heart of having those things that bothered me settled. I wanted the right perspective to view the situation from.

Overtime, I went from plan to plan that resonated with one another and I just kept soaking in those words as they came. Then I realised that after a while, my emotions began to shape into a better place; I was more put together with regards to the things that bothered me and it was easier for me to see that situation through the light of God's word. I began to notice a few changes in my demeanor and in the way I acted towards the situation. This wasn't immediate, however. It didn't occur the first day or even the third day.

This brought me to the realisation of a few things:

1. First, human capability is limited.

2. Secondly, our emotions are not the best judge of character or the best judge of situations. For instance, in a case where where we feel displeasure toward someone or something they we can do us more harm than good - if they fester unchecked. 

3. Thirdly, if we expose our hearts in any particular situation to the light of God's word we realise that not only does that situation change but the way we also feel about the situation and the way we respond to it changes. We ourselves get changed from inside out.

It then becomes that we begin to experience a form of growth through God's word. It's just like when you plant a corn and we see the first green tip called the blade that grows out of the soil, and secondly it begins to grow and bring forth leaves and then the head, and lastly the full corn comes out and it becomes ripe for harvest. 

It's the same thing with God's word. We begin to see it in bits and trickles, we begin to notice that the way we would have reacted in time past to that same situation is not the way we would react now. Or realise that what we were lacking in patience, what we were lacking in understanding, what we were lacking in wisdom we now possess. 

Just as the scripture says that as a man plants and does not know how it happens, we also may not take note of it when it happens but we just look back and we also realise that all what we planted then has germinated and is now bringing forth fruit. 

Take this as an encouragement - In any given situation, no matter what you've been going through, take time to feed on God's word, take time to submit your heart in that situation to God's word. Equally, when it comes to your personal walk and your personal devotion with God, don't put yourself under too much pressure. Don't feel as if you've been doing quiet time, you've been reading the word, and nothing is showing forth. It is doing a silent work in the background; as long as your heart is devoted to it and your heart seeks God diligently, He will surely reward you.  Look back and you will realise how much you have grown, the processes that you have gone through, and how you are becoming the reality of a new creature as the scriptures say in 2nd Corinthians 5:17.