Call me crazy but I am actually going to do it.  I am going to do something I never thought I’d do.  I’m going to do something that I’ve never even understood why others do it – to me it always seemed a bit crazy.  But now I am officially one of the crazy people.  Why?  Because I am going to run in a race – a 5k race on the 4th of July.

Those who know about running know that a 5k isn’t that big a deal (it's a little more than 3 miles) but the point is that I’ve never done this kind of thing before and to be honest I’ve never really understood why people pay money to run.  I always said that I’d pay money to sit or to lie down, but never to run.  I never understood it.

And actually not only have I never run a race before, but I’ve never been someone to even run outdoors.  I enjoy taking walks outdoors with my wife and/or kids, but I’ve never been one of those people who exercises outdoors.  I usually do my exercising indoors so I can catch up on ESPN'S SportsCenter while I workout.  But ever since I signed up for the run, I’ve been running outdoors.  The weather has been great and I have fallen in love with my new workout program.

There’s something special about being outdoors – especially in my neighborhood as there’s a nearby running trail that’s surrounded by trees which provide both some much needed shade and also some much enjoyed inspiration.  I love to look at trees – big towering humungous gargantuan sized trees.  Yesterday I was thinking to myself about how long it must have taken for those trees to get so big.  Some of those trees must have been there for years!

But you know what?  No matter how big a tree may be today – no matter how tall or imposing it looks, every tree started off the same way…as a little seed.  A tiny seed.  Small.  Miniscule.  Unimposing.  Unimpressive.  No matter how big it is today, I guarantee that it didn’t start that way.  It started just like every other plant or tree out there – a tiny little seed.

Our lives are full of tiny little seeds, planted by God Himself.  God is planning to make those seeds grow into huge fruit bearing trees.  You may not see the seeds growing and taking root, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t.  Just because you can't see what God is doing doesn't mean He's not doing anything.  That may be something important for you to remember right now. You've been praying about that need, that situation, that person for a long time and it looks like nothing's happening.

Key words: LOOKS LIKE NOTHING'S HAPPENING.

When a seed's been planted, it looks like there's nothing going on for some time until that plant breaks through and ultimately produces some wonderful fruit. When a new life has begun in a woman's body, it doesn't look like anything's happened for quite a while.  But every day, that life is growing where we can't see it grow.

Philippians 1:6 says that we should be “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” 

I love this verse because it is a constant reminder to me that God is working.  I don’t need to know what God is doing.  I don’t need to know how the seed is growing.  All I need to know is that the seed is inside and that God is doing something.  If I know that He is working, I trust that He will make that seed grow into a nice tree with fruit… someday.  Maybe not today or tomorrow, but I trust that it will be someday.

Next time you get anxious and stressed and wonder “where is God?” and “how come He’s not doing something big in my life?”  I want you to look towards a big tree and then remind yourself of where that tree came from.  God may be working in your life in the same way.

Discussion: Can you see that God often turns life’s seeds into big trees?  How have you seen that in your life?