Every trip has a starting point. Every mission has a starting base. Anything we plan for or strive to accomplish has to start somewhere. We’ve talked a lot about setting a goal. Chasing the 500lb lion and reaching our goal. We’ve talked about planning and the process we need to undergo, but sometimes we can feel discouraged or feel like it’s not going the way we want to, or nothing is happening.
I was reminded in the book Chase the Lion that every dream, no matter the size starts out like a seed. Now I’m no gardener but I do understand the process of growing a plant or flower. When you plant a seed, it can take a long time for progress to be noticeable. And that can be discouraging. There’s a catch. Planting a seed won’t yield a return unless we are putting work in. When we plant the seed of our dream we must water it, take care of it, nurture the dream because as Mark Batterson says, “it has to take root, before it can bear fruit.”
I think sometimes we may “plant the seed” but we only set the seed atop the soil, we didn’t bury it, water it, give it sunlight, and protect it. We just set it there and hope for something to happen. When we do this, we may sometimes see some results. Or maybe we will see a little sprouting, but the dream can easily be swept away. Sometimes even, without allowing our dream to take root, we won’t ever see the full effect of the dream. Take a tree, for example, trees take years to develop, years to grow. And often when a tree is planted, the planter may not be around to see the tree at full size, but their kids or their kids may be.
I think it’s important to remind ourselves that some dreams are planted and nurtured but the dream may not be fully lived out by you or me. It may be a generational dream that is passed on. Batterson talks about how his mentor had dreams of fulfilling certain ministry goals that seemed near impossible at the time, but today is being lived out by the church Batterson started. And that even today, he is planting seeds through the church that will live on long past his time as the lead pastor. It takes faith and patience to trust the planting of a seed and allowing it to grow naturally.
Then there are other situations where dreams become reality in front of you and you’re able to see the transition. I think about this in my career today. I dreamed of owning a company with my dad and building a legacy (no pun intended). That dream would never have been possible if my dad wasn’t an entrepreneur and planning ahead. See he had a seed planted in him 20yrs ago by his business partner, and 16yrs ago he bought into his first company, 5 yrs ago he bought another that just this year, I got to buy into.
There’s a process to the goals we set forth and sometimes they take years to develop. Kind of like the parable of the mustard seed in the Bible in Mark, Chapter 4. The mustard seed one of the smallest seeds on earth can grow to be the largest of all garden plants. But this takes time, this takes faith and this takes patience. You have to plant the seed, nurture the seed, and allow it to grow over time.
So whether you are planting a seed for your dream or your seed is going to yield fruit through generations to come, it starts now. Trust in the process and have faith that the dream your striving towards will prosper. Remember that dreams and goals don’t happen overnight. And the bigger the dream, the more faith and nurturing you will have to do. Don’t stop chasing the 500lb dream. Plant the seed and let it grow! Then you will see the return that was meant to happen.
WORKOUT
Planting the seed in our fitness journey can be very effective. See, people get caught up in six-pack abs or big arms, but often fail to remember that the end goal takes time to develop. I think working out is a great example to show the effects of what nurturing the planted seed looks like. Each day that we work out and follow the plan, we get one step closer to the end goal and the results can be very visually tangible. So, just as in our personal lives, plant the seed in your fitness journey and nurture it through the process.
For this workout use the WOD app or a stopwatch. We are going to perform 40sec work and 20 sec of rest. Go through each block three times. Take a minute break after each block is
Block 1:
- Air Squats
- Right Leg Reverse Lunge
- Left Leg Reverse Lunge
Block 2:
- Burpees
- Push-ups
- Planks (on elbows)
Block 3:
- Squat Hold
- Inchworms
- Squat Step Back (alternating ea. leg)
Block 4:
- Sit-ups
- Side Bends (alternating back and forth)
- Leg Lifts
Hammer and Anvil 