When things are out of our control and we live in the unknown, we are in good company. The world looked very uncertain for Mary, too, when the angel appeared to her two thousand years ago and said:
“Don’t be afraid, Mary … for you have found favor with God! … You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. … The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God,” Luke 1:30, 31, 35.
In the secret place, Jesus was planted within Mary, the faithful vessel of God, and the seed of hope was planted in her heart. When the world looked hopeless, Mary carried hope!
The Seed Fund
This Christmas, the Lord has conceived something new at One Challenge called the Seed Fund. God has placed the Seed Fund on our hearts as a vessel or container that will hold the seed He can plant and grow to its fullest.
This unrestricted giving allows God to decide how it’s used, from supporting underfunded mission workers to funding new projects in the U.S. and around the globe. All to reach our uncertain world with the certainty of Jesus, and to sow hope in the hearts of the people Jesus came to save.
Exciting Expectation
We are incredibly grateful the Holy Spirit visited Mary and deposited Jesus — the one who would alter the course of history forever. We can never underestimate the power of a seed! Let us respond like Mary with expectation to the promise of hope God has placed within us.
“I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true,” Luke 1:38.
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think,” Ephesians 3:20.
When hope is planted, it will be delivered!
*The Seed Fund is replacing the terminology of the “general fund,” but the heart of fully giving to the Lord for His purposes is unchanging.
