“But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:23, NKJV).

My grandmother, whom we affectionately called “Omi,” grew up in the Old Country—Germany, to be exact. She was orphaned at the age of ten and went to live with a Lutheran pastor and his wife. While there she learned a lot about hard work, as there is always a lot to do on a farm. But she also learned about Jesus—“Yesus,” as she called Him—and that changed her life, as well as the lives of many of us who are blessed to be descended from this wonderful woman who never quite hit five feet tall. And yet she looms large in my memory. Omi baked the world’s best butter cookies, told us fascinating stories of growing up in a faraway land in another era, and stressed the need for us to have “Yesus” in our heart.
I also know that Omi prayed for us, wanting us all to come to that place of receiving “Yesus” as our Savior. Some of us did just that before she “graduated to heaven” in 1975, while others have yet to do so.
One in particular whom she prayed for was my dad. My grandmother taught him about “Yesus” when he was a little boy, but he rejected her teachings and her faith when he became an adult. Still, she continued to pray for him and for the rest of her family members. She didn’t live long enough to see her prayers for my dad answered because he didn’t come to Christ until October 1999, during the last week of his 88 years on earth. But oh, what a reunion that must have been in heaven!
The important thing is that Omi continued to sow good seeds, trusting God to bring in the harvest, whether she was still here to see it or not. And that’s the point. Many of us have been praying and witnessing and planting good seeds for years, yet seeing little if any results. Does that mean God doesn’t hear us? Absolutely not! God is faithful, and He desires to see people saved more than we do. So whatever seeds you’re planting today—and however long you’ve been watering them with tears—don’t give up. The harvest will come in God’s perfect time. “Yesus” is our guarantee.