One Solitary Seed


26 And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
Mark 4:26-29 (NASB)


I thought that I would share a friend's testimony this week. I received a phone call from him this week and it touched my heart and spoke to me about the power of God and His Word.

I met Scott at an employment orientation for a trucking company named CRST. The first time that I saw him, he had come into my room where a group of us had formed just to shoot the bull and whatnot. The conversation somehow rolled around to my getting robbed a few times at a former employer. I remember saying how frightening it was to have a gun pointed in your face. Scott then replied that if that happened to him, he would help the robber pull the trigger. He then looked at one of the men in the room and said "you know what I mean" and left the room. Well, the orientation went as scheduled and the new drivers went out with their various trainers and that was that.


While we were out with our trainers those acquaintances were maintained through cell phones. We would call each other to see how it was going and whatnot. At the end of our training we were assigned to our teams and Scott and I ended up driving together. We spent the next couple of months travelling the country together. We talked about all sorts of stuff; occasionally about God but not very often. The one thing that stood out to me during that time was the bad dreams that Scott would have. I mean I would be driving down the road (I was the night driver normally) and all of a sudden a blood curdling scream would come out of the sleeper. This was no ordinary bad dream, I am here to tell you that it was nasty. I remember remarking that if I got sleepy I wouldn't have to worry about it because Scott, sooner or later would wake me up.lol Eventually we both left CRST and ended up driving together with another company.


It was with this company that Scott and I became good friends. I spent many weekends at his house with him and his wife Sherry. While on the road we talked a great deal about things and I learned that Scott had suffered a great deal in his life. His heart was broken in a million pieces and had a wound that was open and would not heal. He was broken. His wife was enduring dialysis every night and he himself had suffered through a heart attack and triple bypass. Both he and Sherry were on many different medications and generally struggled to maintain their health. But, the suffering they endured physically was pale in comparison to the spiritual pain they were enduring. You see Scott and Sherry had lost their beloved son and Scott's mother in a horrific traffic accident while on vacation in Florida a few years back.


After receiving an insurance settlement they turned to drugs and alcohol screaming for some relief from the pain and guilt and bitterness. This went on for some time until the money ran out but the pain was still there. Scott didn't have any reason for living and told me as much all the time. All he wanted was to see his mother and son. Well, we were on a run from Tennessee to Laredo, Texas and were in Dallas one night. I was driving as usual, it was late at night or early in the morning(?) and Scott let out with this scream at the top of his lungs and I hollered back at him,but got no response. I hollered several more times with no response and I got scared. I thought he was dead. I pulled the truck over on the side of the Interstate and literally trembling I turned around towards the sleeper berth praying that he wasn't dead. I yelled again and he woke up to my relief and told me that he had the worst dream that he had ever had. We went on down to Laredo and on the way back we were in Dallas once again and here begins my message. While driving around Dallas that night, Scott accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior. There was no great fanfare. No crying or shouting. Very matter of fact actually. All Scott would say about his conversion was that it was the first time that he had ever been told that God would take HIM to heaven. No great awakening, no sudden desire to preach the Word or become a great evangelist. Just a desire to go to heaven and see his son. I sometimes wondered if God had really touched him that night. Fast forward a couple of years.


I was thinking this week if there were any purpose in my life. Wondering if there were a reason for getting up in the morning other than just to survive. Nothing was or had been happening. Just more of the same. Been feeling like that lately? Just in the doldrums. Yeah I've been dealing with that for a while. Well, the Lord answered my question this week with a phone call. Scott called me this week and told me that he was reading his Bible and had ordered some C.D.'s from Dr. Charles Stanley to help him understand trhe Bible better.He was just gushing with enthusiasm for God and His Word. The phone call touched my heart and encouraged me. That scripture was put on my heart today and I thought I would pass it along.

God spoke to my heart about casting seed. We don't ever know when that kind word or action is going to plant a seed in someone's heart.We don't ever know when enduring difficult circumstances will touch someone's heart. We don't know if that prayer offered up in disappointment and despair is the prayer that changes things. God said to keep casting the seed. Only eternity will record the life or lives that were touched by those seeds that we sowed and planted.

He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life

God Bless