Seed by Faith

Rev. Sudha Mehta©

Matthew 7: 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: 8 For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. (AKJV)

I had just fulfilled my daughters request, and much more. Once I was done I had made 100 Mooli (Daikon Radish) Parathas. Those of you that are of Indian or Pakistani heritage know what I speak of.  For others of you who know not what I speak of, a Paratha is a Indian flatbread made of whole wheat dough, which may be rolled out, stuffed, re-rolled out and then pan fried. It can be stuffed with many things, such as potatoes, peas, cauliflower; pretty much any vegetable your heart desires. My mother, the quintessential leftover utilizer, would stuff leftovers and create delicious new parathas for breakfast treats for us.

Now however, this Indian bread feels like a quite a project to take on since it seems I have done it so many times. So, for ease, I make many and freeze them for future use. The only reason to make these at all now is because I love my family and everybody in the family loves them. Everybody including my husband Peter likes them even for a midnight snack!!! With everything else available in the market and at home, this Grammy still gets the call for Parathas . . . go figure!

Having made a hundred of them I thought I was done for a while, but then my young grandson came to me and made a request. “Grammy, when you come next, can you bring me Methi Parathas, ” . . . Sigh! Another FYI for those of you that do not know what Methi is: it is Fenugreek leaves, somewhat bitter, actually, but much loved and used in various recipes. It is a plant indigenous to India. How can Grammy refuse?! His request is actually much easier to make than my daughter’s favorite Mooli (Daikon Radish) parathas which are much more laborious. “Off course” I said . . . and I will yet!

I had a problem though . . .

Where I live in the country there is no Indian grocery store, nothing within easy traveling distance. I promised to make something for which I didn’t have the main ingredient. I had no Methi!

There were three months yet to the next trip to my daughters home, so I came up with my own plan. My daughter had agreed to mail dried Methi leaves from her local grocery store to me, but I decided to do one better. I found Methi seeds in my pantry that had been there for more than a quarter century and set to work. The seeds being so old, I was not at all sure they had any life in them at all, but I had prayer and faith on my side!

The garden store had the right size pots . . . I purchased two and once Peter had them filled with potting soil, I prayed over my seed and asked the Lord to provide a grand harvest (enough for the parathas). I told the Lord I wanted my grandchildren to see faith in action and that all things are possible to those who believe.

Five days later, this was the result.Methi 1 Photo by Sudha

Three more days later:

Methi 2 Photo by Sudha

A few more days passed by:

Methi 3 Photo by Sudha

Yes, I will be able to make parathas for my grandsons, and everyone in the family.

Here it is now about six weeks from planting.

Methi harvest ready photo by Sudha

I will be harvesting both pots this week, and expect to get another hundred parathas for the whole family! All because my grandson asked.

 

Methi Parathi Photos from vegecraving, and lipsmacking

Some of you may think this is an extreme length to go to for a grandchild, but I am sure most grandmothers around the World would agree that we love to spoil our grandchildren. My parents used to say: “The children are the principal investment, the grandchildren are the interest we collect; and who doesn’t love and want more of the interest?!”

The Bible says:

Proverbs 17: 6 Children’s children are the crown of old men; the glory of children are their parents.(WEB)

 

Here is something to think about:

If we love our children and grandchildren so much, how much more does our Heavenly Father love us?! In all our best, we can never love our children more than God loves His, because He is Perfect Love! I know you agree!

Speaking of us bringing Him our needs and requests, Jesus said:

Luke 11: 9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”(WEB)

Not only are we instructed to ask Him, but we are instructed to be persistent! Some of you may not have known that! We are also chided for our lack of faith in that sometimes we think He will give us something less than we ask, or that He might actually give us something bad instead of something good . . . stone instead of bread, snake instead of a fish, scorpion instead of an egg. Compared with perfect goodness, human goodness is evil indeed for it is fraught with sin and imperfection. Yet when we ask He gives us His best gift, that of His own presence through the Holy Spirit!

James 1: 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.(WEB)

God never changes and since He is constant, His gifts are always good. We can trust Him fully! To not do so actually brings us to sin! Doubt is tantamount to accusing God of being a liar. He is good all the time, and His love endures forever! (Psalm 136) 

God our Creator desires that we walk with complete faith in Him, our faith in Him, brings Him to honor His Word to us:

Mark 11: 24 Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. (WEB)

My grandson coming to me and asking me for something as little as Methi Parathas is an example of this. How I get the ingredients and what process I go through to grant his request was not something he was worried about . . . he simply made a request with childlike faith, and knowing I love him very much, his expectation was that I will give him his request. He had the faith! I honored that!!

Did you know that even something as big as entry to heaven is dependent on faith? Jesus said:

Matthew 18: 2 And Jesus called a little child to him, and set him in the middle of them, 3 And said, Truly I say to you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.(AKJV)Jesus-Christ-children photo from LDS.org

A simple childlike faith is what it takes. One of my teachers said: “The more mature you become in Christ, the more like a child you become in your faith.” When I come to speak with Him, I do not need to come with great words or platitudes to appease Him, I come as a simple child who runs to her Daddy to greet Him knowing that she will be loved back! Because I am a loved child in that I accept His Lordship over me, I know I have entry into heaven when I die. It is just that simple!

My faith has grown over the years. I have matured in Him, and yes, I continue to become more like a child. This growth has also caused me to be less like the Old me. The more the New me in Christ grows, the more the Old me that was before Christ fades. Once I came to know Christ, and understood His love for me, I had to put away the Old ways of thinking and acting, and learn New ways of faith that led to newfound confidence in the Creator who keeps His word. It took work, but it was every bit worth it!

What He says in His Word, The Bible, I can stand on.

In growing Methi from seed and documenting with pictures I recorded an object lesson of love and faith for my grandchildren. I recorded God our Father’s love and trustworthiness, and mine. I want to emulate Christ in all I do and I want my children and grandchildren to follow my example in learning Christ.

The Methi seed I had sitting in a jar, forgotten on a shelf in my spice pantry, for a quarter century or more, was dead for all intents and purposes. It did nothing for me, or anyone else. Yet, faith said it had life dormant in it. The new plant could only grow when the old seed started to die by being buried in dirt.  Whether the seed was dead and God infused life in it because of my prayer, or whether it still had life in it . . . doesn’t matter for God placed that life in it when He created the seed! God is the Creator, life-giver, and the only One who truly answers prayer.

He always answers!

Make your request from Him! The only pre-requisite is you have to believe that He is who He says He is!

I can do this!

Thank You, Lord!

Did you Know

Thanksgiving!

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