Trusting Him to Prepare the Soil

“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.  And I will teach you the way that is good and right.  But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.  Yet if you persist in doing evil both you and your king will be swept away”
1 Samuel 12:23-25

As we follow the Lord and lead others to Him it is easy to get so involved with others that we almost feel responsible for the choices they make.  But this is a burden we should not be carrying.  The Lord asks us to be the light of the world, to pray for others, to love them, to sow seeds, and to trust Him.  .

Speaking of the parable of the soil and seed from Matthew 12:3-9,18-23 :

“The seed and the soil are inseparably linked in nature’s cycle of growth.  A good seed must lodge in good soil if there is to be a harvest.  Jesus’ parable of the soil and seed is familiar to most of us.  His message is clear; it is the condition of the soil, not the content of the seed or the actions of the sower, which governs a person’s response to the gospel of Christ….The seed, God’s Word, is always good.  It is the soil - the persons heart, personality, will, and emotions - that must be prepared to receive Christ….When the conditions are right, faith will blossom.” 
“I Lift Up My Soul” devotions by Charles Stanley, January 31, 2012

We have to understand that although we may “teach … the way that is good and right” the other person(s) must “be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all (their) heart”.  We must give them the room to make those choices for themselves.

“Yet if you persist in doing evil both you and your king will be swept away”.  This means “to bring upon itself its own destruction”.  Which also releases the burden from our shoulders.  If the person will “persist in doing in evil”, they are bringing upon their own destruction.  But a hope we can hold onto is this, “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.”  The most useful weapon we have against our enemy is prayer!  When the Lord puts people along our path to guide, to teach, to show Jesus to, it is so important that we pray for them.  This is a choice we can make, a choice that does lay in our own hands!  Pray for others, continually lifting them up to the Lord, and then trust Him.  Trusting Him means trusting His timing in allowing that seed to grow. Trust Him to prepare the soil.