[a story] by Paul Berchtold. Used by permission of the author. This story is found at Thank-Your-Stars.com.”
A Seed in the Mud
Once upon a time there was a seed buried in the mud.
It was in dark blackness. It was cold and wet. It shivered. It was just plain no fun.
It was icky. It was dirty. It was muddy. It was mucky. It was stuck in the mud.
How it got there is a little 3 sentence story.
One nice breezy Fall day, it had fallen on the ground. Then it rained a little. And a deer came along and stepped on it and pushed it deep in the mud.
Life just wasn’t fair. It was all alone. If only it had fallen like the other seeds in the grass, or on the log over there, or at least not been stepped on.
But what the little seed did not see was
- the mouse that ate the seeds in the grass
- and the bird that ate the seeds on the log
- and the chipmunk that gathered the seeds on the ground to store and eat all winter long.
It couldn’t see this because it was stuck in the mud. It didn’t know how lucky it was.
Now besides being squished tight in the mud, it was also locked in its shell. It tried to get out of its terrible predicament, but the Fall days got shorter and shorter. It got colder and colder too. It had no strength to get out of its shell. The mud was frozen solid, the deep snow covered it. It went through a terribly cold and dark winter.
Finally, after what seemed forever, slowly the days grew a little longer, a little warmer. The seed had work to do. It began to grow.
The water in the mud had softened its shell. Still, how hard it was to get out of its shell ! It had to exert energy like never before. It struggled and struggled. Finally it broke free.
Then it used more energy to go not up, but down, struggling to send a tiny little root through that compacted mud — that terribly icky place. It needed something to tightly hold on to, because……..
…now it had to struggle yet again with great effort to send a tiny little shoot to the light above — through all that icky mud. Finally it was free. It reached the warm sunlight.
You would think its troubles were over. Not so fast. In a whole year it grew only a few inches, while the other plants grew by leaps and bounds, as if to mock the little seed. Every fall it lost its leaves. In winter it barely survived, covered with snow. And as it got a little taller, it had to go through windstorms and blizzards.
But one thing was peculiar. Even while it slowly grew up to the sunny blue sky, it never forgot its roots. It had the wisdom to keep growing its roots deeper and deeper in the mud.
In fact, it used every wind storm, every blizzard, every shaking, every vibration to wiggle its roots deeper and deeper into the black icky mud.
It knew the importance of a solid foundation, because it always remembered where it came from, how it had been protected and helped by the mud.
The years rolled on, and the seasons too. Each summer it so slowly but surely grew. Each winter it became a little tougher and stronger. It had little joys and little sorrows throughout its life like all of us do.
Then came the fiercest of all storms. The wind blew so violently this way and that. Trees all around were dashed to the ground, broken, uprooted, a jangled mess.
After the devastation, the sun shone once again. To be sure, it didn’t look so pretty, some leaves were missing, in fact, quite a few, but that would soon be remedied.
Because it hadn’t forgotten its roots as a seed in the mud, it stood there in all its glory. It had become the mighty oak tree.
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This story is so chuck full of potential lessons, I scarcely know where to begin! The first that came to my mind is the parable of the seeds found in the beginning of Matthew 13. As I read further, however, another lesson cam to mind: that of how our response to life’s trials can strengthen us and grow our character. Then there was ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ and the fact that in our own trials we often don’t notice the trials of others.
The lesson I decided to focus on is ‘roots.’ Our foundation, our root, is critical to get us through everything life throws our way. Listen to the following passage from I Corinthians chapter 3. Paul is talking about laying a foundation in ministry, planting seeds that others may harvest later. But look also at the parallels when we lay this passage over the trials of our lives.
” 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
If we have the foundation of our life rooted solidly in Christ, if He is our foundation, the fiery trials of life won’t knock us over. Ephesians 2 adds more to this idea: “19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the , 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,…”
I know that since I have made Him my foundation, the trials of life may try to knock me down, but He is there to hold me up, or in the worst of times, to gently lift me back onto my feet and walk beside me through the remainder of that ordeal. I am so thankful every day for this strong foundation!
There is so much more I could write on this subject, but there are children to get to school, a dog to get to the groomers and a long drive to work, so I will leave you with those few thoughts for today.
Have a blessed day!
Cellebrate Life 