The power of a story wasn’t lost on Jesus. When people had questions about God’s Kingdom or needed life lessons, the Prince of Peace was also a master at parables.

One of my favorites is “The Seed and The Sower” in Luke 8. It shows how God’s Word (the seed) interacts with our hearts (the soil).

Resistant hearts, naive hearts, worried hearts and believing hearts all encounter His truth. But only one heart absorbs it.

And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. (Luke 8:15 NLT)

I want one of those hearts. The good kind.

But first, I have to be honest.

I struggle with the whole “patiently produce a huge harvest” thing; specifically, the patient part.

You may be more patient than I am.

But as I wait for a situation’s outcome, my mind goes into overdrive. I think of all the wonderful, and even not so wonderful, things that could show up in my life.

Learning to wait well is my goal. But not knowing when what’s vital will happen — or if it will happen at all — leaves me with a greater sense of anxiety or a greater dependence on God.

My mind may want to drive, but my heart knows our time of waiting is God’s time to turn our hearts toward His.

Now back to the soil.

The best time for aeration or “turning the soil” is during the growing season. It involves loosening compact soil and making vital nutrients like water and oxygen, more accessible to plants (the desired harvest).

As small holes are pierced through the ground, nourishment filters down to the roots. In our Seed and Sower analogy, loosening compact soil feels like piercing to the soul.

God’s grace and truth need to reach the deepest parts of who we are.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. (Hebrews 4:12 NLT)

It pierces impatience and points me toward trusting God. It severs my self-seeking agenda from my heart and hits me squarely between the eyes with His.

If I don’t yield to God’s process, the stubborn places (or compact soil) settle in. Instead of receiving the harvest He desires, I start hearing a lot of other things.

I hear the tick tock of time passing by.

I hear statistics state what will or won’t happen.

I hear people’s opinions over God’s promises.

I hear my believing heart argue with my fickle mind.

But, eventually, a good-hearted soul focuses on the words of the Good Shepherd. (see John 10:14-16)

Such tenacity silences the noise of what makes a heart resistant, naive or worried. It removes plugs in my thinking that stop the flow of my faith.

As I wait for the outcome of life’s situations, I don’t want the power of this parable to be lost on me.

A good heart sees promise in the piercing. It welcomes the preparation for a new season.

Its “innermost thoughts and desires” become the attitudes and actions of a yielded, Christ-centered soul.

The truth is, the harvest is larger than we can imagine and it contains blessings we’ll never deserve. That’s where grace comes in.

The Sower and His Seed are waiting. They love to do their work of giving hope for the heart and bringing joy to the soul.