The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it produce and sprout, and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will my word be which goes out of my mouth; it will not return to me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.”

—Isaiah 55:10–11 

Sometimes we say things at the Lord’s prompting, and it feels like we just watch it fall to fallow ground, yielding nothing. 

Maybe we don’t receive the reactions we hoped—or any reaction at all. Maybe no one suddenly accepts Jesus Christ, turns their life around, or responds to the truth in what was said. Maybe they even respond badly.

That doesn’t mean the words were useless. If we’re speaking God’s Word, it’s planting seeds all along the way. Some may sprout and some may not; that depends upon the soil where they land (Matthew 13:1–23), but those words are never spoken in vain.

Most seeds take time to sink deep into the soil and begin to sprout . . . sometimes a very long time. 

And we may never know even if the fruit does thrive; maybe we’re there for the planting, but someone else is there for the harvest (John 4:37–38).

We can continue planting those seeds in hopeful confidence, because if we’re faithful to plant, the harvest will eventually come (Galatians 6:9).

The Lord’s Word will not return void.

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