The Stones You Won't Let Go Of Are Blocking Your Harvest

I'm excited to keep going in this series, because today I want to talk about the ground that starts strong and then can't hold on — and about the stones underneath it that keep it from ever taking root.

If it doesn't click today, that doesn't mean it won't click at all.

When I was learning to spin six-guns for a children's ministry outreach, I started on heavy-framed pistols with ridges that literally tore chunks out of my thumb. I went through a pair of leather gloves that ended up with holes ripped straight through them.

I couldn't get it. I mean, I really couldn't get it. But I stuck with it, because I'd watched other men do it, and I figured if they could, so could I.

Then one day, it just clicked. I stopped hitting my skin entirely.

The Word works the same way. Some days it'll feel like it's taking chunks out of you. But if you'll stick with it, there will be a day it clicks.

Sowing seed isn't earning it — it's how blessing actually works.

People say, "It's just by the grace of God." It is by grace that your harvest was purchased, and it's by grace that He gave you His Word. But you still have to sow the seed.

When I plant watermelon seed, I'm not earning a watermelon harvest from God as some kind of reward for being a good little trooper. There's simply a natural course to how things function. I sow, I reap. God already purchased the harvest — I still have to plant the seed.

This Word is dangerous — and that's exactly why you want it.

“These are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.”

Mark 4:15 (NKJV)

Satan is after the Word because the Word is dangerous to him. That should be exactly why you want it. Don't walk through life reaching for a candle when there's a weapon sitting right next to you. Grab the most dangerous thing in the room. That's the Word.

Illumination costs you a struggle. Hold on anyway.

“But recall the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings.”

Hebrews 10:32 (NKJV)

Illumination in the Word doesn't end the fight — it starts one. The devil is going to try to make you let go of what you just got a hold of.

I'm not telling you that you'll never suffer another day. I'm telling you that you'll always have an answer for every problem that comes.

People will persecute you. The devil will stir up trouble. But if you're holding the tool that wins, none of that has the final word.

Stony ground: what happens when the Word hits something you won't let go of?

There's dirt in this ground — real dirt — but stones underneath it. The seed sprouts fast, looks promising, and then hits rock before the root can go deep.

Think about the madman of Gadara. Jesus delivered him, but it cost the town two thousand pigs — and that price was too high for the people watching. They asked Jesus to leave. The Word had hit a stone they weren't willing to remove.

What stones are sitting in your ground? Unforgiveness? Bitterness? Something that happened to you that you've never let the Word touch?

I was sexually assaulted when I was five years old, and even I had to let Jesus deal with that stone — forgiveness, trusting Him instead of only trusting myself. It was a stone. It's still something I let the Word work in, for the rest of my life.

Would you let this Word remove the stone?

If you tell the Word, "I don't want to talk about this anymore," ask yourself honestly whether that stone is keeping the Word from ever taking root in you. You can't afford to leave it there, because eventually the heat comes, and shallow roots scorch.

Would you be willing to say, "This isn't a sacred stone. I don't want it anymore. I want this Word to have full course in my life, without obstacle"?

This isn't a one-time decision. It's something you'll keep doing for the rest of your life — staying willing to let the Word touch whatever it needs to touch, leaving no stone unturned.

Fight To Win.