Loneliness before the harvest

I didn’t have a whole lot of friends when I was a kid, I really don’t know why. It wasn’t that I was mean to people or selfish or anything like that. In fact, I was so desperate for friends I was probably too clingy and ended up repelling anyone within 100 feet of me. But for the most part, I remember my childhood through lonely eyes. I had a deep longing for somewhere and someone to belong to. Eventually, when I became an adult, I started to figure out how to make friends, but that feeling of being an outsider has never left me. I am accustomed to it now.

Mark 4:21-34
“He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." 24 "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you-and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."  26 He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."  30 Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."  33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.” 

The Kingdom of God has many paradoxes. It lifts up and exalts people who are rejected by this world. It accepts and loves those unworthy of love. It is based on love and power. It promotes peace through spiritual war. And it is secret, yet is known throughout the world. During His ministry, Jesus was constantly urging people not to reveal who He was, yet everything He did promoted His notoriety. He became so famous He became a target for murder.

How is the Kingdom of God like a mustard seed? That tiny seed contains all the genetic material to grow 1000 times its own size. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed in that it grows exponentially. Wherever there is another lamp lit, another flame kindled, the Kingdom grows. It grows until it is harvest time, and when the harvest comes, there will be no more loneliness, no more children without friends, and the Kingdom will fill our vision and our hearts and our minds with its golden yellow gleaming.