“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT
Ecclesiastes 3 always reminds me that God has created a full life for me. This chapter gives me permission to embrace all that life offers: joy, sorrow, work, rest. These scriptures are a promise that my life today will not be the same in a year, a month, or a week. When I’m dissatisfied with life, I try to remember the sweet truth that God has made everything beautiful, in its own time.
When I read this verse over the weekend, The Holy Spirit gave me the image of a seed. Seeds are deceptively designed. Their appearance is plain, ordinary, and forgettable. When a seed is planted, it grows slowly and quietly beneath the surface until the first shoot bursts into view. Once this shoot appears, the seed becomes a little less ordinary. Suddenly, the muted brown becomes a verdant green. The longer the seed is allowed to grow, the more vibrant, complex, and extraordinary it becomes. It’s initial appearance is deceiving because seeds hold life within their shells. If a seed is nurtured and cultivated, it’s greatest potential blooms into something beautiful.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 reveals that God has planted eternity within us. All of His children have a seed in their heart that, if nurtured, blooms into a life giving, one of a kind creation. Plants are trending as home decor because they add life to a space, aesthetically and scientifically. Not only do they bring fresh texture and color to a room, but they purify the air around them. Peonies, cactus, and even succulents enhance the lives of those who are in their vicinity.
The most important thing for a plant is that it stays connected to its life source. It has to be watered, it needs proper sunlight, and its soil has to have the right nutrients. People aren’t that different. I’m getting out of a desert season in my life, and I feel like a fiddle leaf fig that hasn’t been watered for a few days. Some days, I’m really nice to my husband and see the silver linings in every raincloud. Other days, every little thing sets me off and I wonder what my life amounts to. This totally depends on where my focus lies. The seed of eternity is planted in my heart, and I have to trust that God will bring it to bloom in His perfect timing.
Lately, I’ve been learning firsthand how my words and actions can bring life or death to those around me. The things I choose to share with others can weigh them down or lift them up. It’s just as easy for me to criticize my husband as it is for me to encourage him, and the two have totally different results. It’s just as easy for me to redirect a friend who’s gossiping as it is for me to jump in with them. Nurturing the soil of your heart isn’t about working more or trying harder, it’s about replacing natural pessimism and superficial façades with God’s truth and genuine joy. The circumstances of my life haven’t changed in this season; I’ve just changed what I’m filling myself with, and that’s altered how I impact the atmosphere around me.
Have you allowed the Lord to cultivate the seed of eternity in your heart? Are you growing towards the Son (plant pun) and enhancing your atmosphere? Regardless of what your life looks like now, remember that He will bring goodness from it in the end. Keep watering your soul with Truth, and beauty will bloom.
Sustaining Me 
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