by Shannon Steuerwald

Twice in the last week the Lord has brought the parable of the sower to the forefront of my thoughts through a literature book I was reading and lecturing and through a message I heard in our youth group. We are familiar with the parable from Luke 8:4-15. A farmer went to his field to sow some seeds. He tossed the seed, but some of the seed fell on hard, trodden earth; some fell on rocky, dry ground; others fell on thorny, suffocating land; and some fell on good, rich soil. Jesus then compared this earthly story to a spiritual truth: the seed is the Word of God that falls on the many different conditions of hearts in our churches. The Word of God is preached, taught, and lived within our church ministries; but we know from experience that the Word of God does not always fall on the good soil, which is the heart that is prepared for the soil.

We meet many different kinds of hearts as we serve ladies in our churches. Just as this parable outlines four kinds of hearts, we, too, see those “soils” in our ministries.

• We see the hard heart that is infected with pride and refuses to be vulnerable or show any weaknesses.
• We see the shallow heart that seems good on the outside but lacks a deep biblical belief system which then affects the choices and responses.
• We see the distracted heart that accepts the Word of God but does not reject the weeds of this world and soon finds that the worldly weeds suffocate even the best of desires.
• We see the disciplined heart that accepts the Word of God as truth and applies that knowledge to life. This heart is described as honest—not perfect, but honest.

These hearts show up in our ladies’ ministries. The wayside lady probably attends Bible studies and services, but she does not invest in the lives of others. She does not share prayer requests unless she can look good. She will volunteer to help but only when she is not put out by the request. Deep down in her heart, she probably believes that God is unapproachable and distant; and her view of God as her Father is distorted. Her own view of herself is wrapped in the deceitfulness of self-centeredness.

The rocky lady buys every resource or book you mention but rarely reads them, attends retreats, participates in Sunday school, and probably serves on several committees. She starts her Christian life with much gusto and then fizzles. It appears that the littlest of things set her off and makes her undependable; and the joy you once saw grows despondent. When faced with a difficult situation, she crumbles and believes God to be uncaring and confusing. Her belief system about God lacks a deep knowledge of Who God is and how He works in her life.

The thorny lady is a busy lady. She fills up her day with community service, volunteer committee work, school events and fundraisers, and little league. Although she is busy, the thorny lady will carve out time for church work; but she is distracted or applies the martyr complex. She shows love by giving possessions and doing things for her loved ones, but fails to see that they really just want her to spend quality time with them. Her relationship with God is no different. Her value system is temporal, and she often feels undervalued and unappreciated (and complains about it), because her focus is on her work and not on her faith. As a result, any spiritual growth she does exhibit is choked by the strong pull of the world’s values. Busyness becomes her protective wall against dealing with the reality of her poor personal relationship with Christ and others.

The good, honest lady exhibits humility while serving others. She listens intently to the Word of God, keeps it, and as a result, shows forth the fruits that come from walking in the Spirit. This lady is disciplined in her walk with the Lord. She strives to learn, to grow, to mature; and she knows this growth does not happen by accident. She may be quiet during Bible studies, but she is growing. She may quietly serve in nursery or in the kitchen, but she is growing. She may never speak or teach a Sunday school class, but she is a prayer warrior and a willing spirit. She does not stop growing, even if the pace is slow.

We have all of these kinds of ladies in our ministries, and we have a responsibility to love them and disciple each of them. I am thankful that the farmer did not stop sowing the seed. We have to keep teaching, keep studying, keep applying the seeds of God’s Word. But along the way, I believe that we can do a better job at recognizing the soils of our ladies and do some tilling. How can I better reach that hard heart, that shallow heart, that distracted heart, and better encourage that good heart? How can I better prepare their soils to accept God’s Word? How can I help them till their ground?

1. Start with prayer.
2. Present a faithful picture of God’s character.
3. Motivate with an eternal value system.
4. Keep sowing.
5. Love them individually.
6. Continue in prayer.