The Clouds Reflection, The Seeds Sown and The Trace

The Clouds Reflection

Over the past several weeks I have been flying back and forth to Holland for work.

From Norwich this is just about a 30 min flight so once we are up and the stewardess has come through with a drink and a snack, back through again to collect the waste, we are on the descent into the airport to land. So there is no time to work and no time to do much else so I will often just catch a quick 40 winks and rest.

Now when I first flew ten years ago I was fairly nervous, even scared, after all if God had wanted me to fly I would have been a bird with wings – wouldn’t I? There was no way I wanted to look out of a window and see what was going on.

However, over the years I have learnt to overcome those nerves and actually enjoy, during any flight, looking out of a window at 30,000 feet or thereabouts and just see the blanket of clouds underneath. So two weeks ago as we are flying over the North Sea at around 23,000 feet I was looking out of the window. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining strongly and the clouds were broken up below me rather than in one giant blanket. They were many different shapes and sizes and some were very thick and some quite thin. As I looked further through the clouds I could see the sea.

All across the surface of the sea was a reflection of the clouds dancing on the water. The sun was shining way above these clouds but it’s strength meant it shone through casting these shadows on the water.

I was prompted to think about how much that was like father God shining His glory down onto us and that Glory continued through and was reflected through us (the clouds) onto those we meet each and every day (the reflection on the water). The fact that all the clouds were different shapes and different density was absolutely right. We are all made differently, we have different roles to play, but that is just it – we ALL have a role to play in portraying Gods rich blessing and Glory onto the world around us.

At the same time my mind turned back to a picture I was given back in November 2010 regarding the sowing of the seed and the different roles we play.

The Seeds Sown

06 November 2010

I was in the car that morning and had 15 mins where I was on my own before I took Matt to his girlfriends to deliver her kitten and just ahead of meeting Bob for coffee.

I decided to spend 15 mins in "soaking" and just resting in Him. I played a CD's I had in the car and I had a dream/picture:

I was in a field and it was absolutely huge. And I was just going forward and making holes in the earth and dropping a seed or what looked like a seed into each of the holes I was making. I knew/felt that I could not stop that I had to reach the end but I couldn't see the end of the field - it just went on and on and on.

I took a glance back from where I came and closest to me I could see the tiniest shoots pocking through the earth, then further away I could see a stalk or two poking up and then on the far distance I could see the fully grown plants...........they were all different - there were flowers, there were bunches of corn, there was just lots of fully grown plants of different varieties (I am not a gardener - I actually hate gardening - so although I could see plants I have no idea what they all were)...........anyway..........

Beyond these plants I could see people coming (although I could not see faces as they were a long way away from where I was standing) along and picking the flowers or cutting the wheat/corn etc - and my immediate thought was "Hey hang on that’s mine I put that seed in the ground and that should be me picking those flowers". I then felt something making me turn around and see the empty field in front of me and a voice saying "There's more to do you need to keep on making those holes and placing the seeds into them". So I turned my back on what was happening behind me and carried on making holes and putting seeds in them and looked up and still could see no end in sight.

I wasn't really too sure of it all and it seemed a bit random especially as I hate gardening or almost anything to do with gardening. But as I sat there I realised that we can never know what happens to the seeds we sow in our lives. The "Hello" to someone no one else talks to, the time taken to speak to someone working in the Supermarket, stopping to help someone in need, placing a coffee or a sandwich into the hands of the beggar on the streets of Norwich, buying "the Big Issue", loads of just simple practical stuff and then the times we share what our faith is all about when it appears to fall on deaf ears........all that goes on in our lives and we sometimes never see the results of that seed sown. But surely we are meant to continue sowing that seed in whatever way we do it and then allow God to water the ground and add the fertilizer to it (His Holy Spirit) and then other workers can come along and harvest the crop. I believe I was being shown that we may not all get to be harvesters but we can all sow the seed.

I think I am right in saying any word or picture from God should be uplifting, encouraging delivering something positive and be supported by scripture - and it was the scripture bit that I was looking to confirm with.......and I think it is John 4 vs. 35b - 38:
"The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

So planters and harvesters have different roles but are there to work together. It seems as though I am one of those "planters".

The Trace

Now God doesn’t leave too many loose ends. And He sort of wrapped all this up for me when a friend of mine, Rob Curl, spoke at our church the other week. He used a phrase that I cannot fully recall, but referred to a Forensic Scientist, and there were a set of “rules” that I think were named after him and Rob referred to the first rule which was something to the effect of “whenever someone passes through anywhere they will leave a trace of something”.

When I heard that I was reminded immediately of “The Clouds” and the “Seeds”.

Wherever we go, in whatever part of our lives we leave a “Trace”. We can never know the impact that “Trace” may have. We can never know when we have said that word, or offered that help, or just “been there” for someone, when we have left the “Trace” that may impact someone’s life sometime in the future when we are not even around.

So the encouragement is surely to continue reflecting Gods glory, to continue sowing that seed even if we do not immediately see the results and to leave that “Trace” of Daddy’s love for mankind. Don’t give up, don’t stop, just keep pressing forward and continue that journey with Father and keep letting people see His love reflected in me and you.