Planting time is always exciting. The ground has been prepared. The rows laid off. The special day has arrived.

We walk down the rows dropping in seed. The planter places the seed the perfect distance apart and at the correct depth in the soil. The seed is now hidden away. We are not able to watch as the changes occur in those seeds. Their hard exterior softens and soon a small sprout peeks out from the seed. It begins to move up toward the sun and one day, even though it is so tender, it breaks through the soil’s crust.

A root system begins too. As the tender shoot heads toward the sunlight, the root system moves downward, anchoring the plant in place. The roots will take nourishment from the soil and feed the plants.

All the while the seed has done this in the darkness…hidden away…unseen.

I wonder at these things. Maybe this is a picture of how our Father deals with us sometimes. He plants us in a place where we can grow and mature unseen by the world. We find ourselves in the dark but He is holding us in a safe place. In this place, He can speak to our hearts as we put ourselves in the Word. We become rooted in Him and His Word. This place is where we are protected from outside influence. Here we hear His voice above all other voices.

Time alone with the Almighty who is our Abba Father is food and water to our very self. Nourishment for our hungry hearts. We draw away for those quiet times. But sometimes, He takes us to that hidden place.

We need not fear that it is dark or warm or even that the soil above us is heavy. Father is doing a miracle in us…we will bear fruit upward as we have grown roots downward. To the world, it may not appear anything is going on. Like the planted seed…the miracle of life…His life in us…is growing.