“The enemy fought the seed, but God had not forgotten what He planted.” Mark 4:14-20
Have you ever loved God—truly loved Him—and then something happened that you could not reconcile with who you believed He was? Something hurt you so deeply that, instead of running to God, you began to pull away from Him?
The Lord showed me something through the parable of the sower. When I saw it, I did not only see four kinds of ground. I saw my own life. I saw the little girl who asked Jesus into her heart. I saw how much I loved Him. I knew Him in the way a child knows Him. I sang to Him. I felt His presence. I loved His Word, and I believed He was near.
Then my heart was broken. Offense got into me. And the enemy presented me with a temptation: Be angry at God. Judge Him by what happened to you. Decide He is not helping you and from that I made the conclustion I had to figure out my life on my own.
And I took that temptation. I agreed with it. I became angry with God, judged His character through my pain, and walked away from Him for twelve years. My complete testimony is much longer than I can share in this teaching. But this is what the Lord showed me:
The enemy was not only coming after my happiness. He was coming after the seed.
THE SEED IS THE WORD
Jesus explains the parable this way:
“The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” Mark 4:14-20
The first thing Jesus says is very simple:
“The sower soweth the word.”
The seed is the Word of God.
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”1 Peter 1:23
That is the seed of salvation I was reaching for.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
The Word carries truth that awakens faith. It tells us who God is, who we are, what Jesus has done, and how we are to live. That is why the enemy fights the Word before it can grow deep roots and bear fruit. Sometimes we think the battle is only about what is happening around us. But underneath it, there may be a battle over what we are going to believe about God.
HOW THE ENEMY ATTACKS THE SEED
Jesus is very specific in this parable. On the wayside, Satan comes immediately and takes away the Word. On stony ground, the Word is received with gladness, but there is no deep root. When affliction or persecution comes, the person becomes offended. Among the thorns, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and other desires choke the Word until it becomes unfruitful. Then there is good ground, where the Word is heard, received, and allowed to bear fruit.
We sometimes fold all of those together, but Jesus names different attacks. The seed can be stolen. It can remain shallow. It can be choked. All of these are Different attacks. But the goal is the same: no fruit.
The words that struck me were these:
“Immediately they are offended.”
Jesus is specifically describing affliction or persecution arising for the Word’s sake. My story is not identical in every detail, and I do not want to force it into the parable.
But the spiritual pattern exposed me. Hardship touched my life. My roots were not deep enough to hold what I could not understand, and I became offended with God. I loved Him, and I had received His Word with gladness.
I am not trying to stand over my younger self and decide how real every part of my faith was. God knows the heart. I know I truly loved Him. But pain came, and offense found a place in me. This parable is not a weapon for us to use to judge somebody else’s salvation. It is a mirror. It makes us ask what is happening in our own hearts when the Word meets disappointment, pressure, fear, money, desire, or pain.
WHEN PAIN BECOMES OFFENSE
Being hurt is not the same as being offended against God.
Pain is real. The Bible does not teach us to pretend we are not wounded. The Psalms are full of people crying honestly before God. The danger comes when the wound becomes a verdict against God’s character.
The issue was not that I had questions. The issue was that I let my wound answer the questions for me.
Instead of saying:
“God, I do not understand this, but help me stay near You,”
I began saying in my heart:
“You did not help me. You cannot be trusted. I have to protect myself.”
Hurt became anger. Anger became resentment. Resentment became trusting in myself, not God.
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.” Ephsians 4:26-37
Anger itself alerts us that something needs to be brought into the light. But when we hold onto wrath, Scripture says we can give place to the devil.
Hebrews 12:15 warns about a root of bitterness springing up, troubling us, and defiling many.
Offense does not stay neatly inside the original wound. It sends roots into how we see God, ourselves, and other people.
Hebrews 3:12–13 also warns about departing from the living God and becoming hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
That is what deception does. It does not usually announce: “I am here to destroy your faith.”
It sounds like a reasonable conclusion: “God failed me, so I am safer without Him.”
I THOUGHT I HAD TO FIGURE OUT LIFE WITHOUT GOD
I could not figure out my life, and I thought:
“God is not helping me, so I have to do this on my own.”
That can sound like empowerment and freedom but it was a burden of self-reliance birthed from deep disappointment.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
When I judged God, I made my own understanding the highest court.
I took the small part of the story I could see and used it to sentence the One who could see the whole thing.
Second Corinthians 10:4–5 says our spiritual weapons pull down strongholds, cast down imaginations, and bring every thought into obedience to Christ.
A thought can become a stronghold when we repeat it, agree with it, and then use it to interpret everything else.
Pain said God had left me.
The Word says nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, according to Romans 8:38–39.
Faith does not pretend something did not hurt. Faith refuses to make the pain more authoritative than the character of God.
THE ENEMY IS COMING FOR OUR FAITH
“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Luke 22:31-32
Jesus did not say Satan was mainly after Peter’s comfort, reputation, or plans.
He said the attack was aimed at Peter’s faith. But Jesus also saw past Peter’s failure. He said: “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
The very place the enemy attacked became a place from which Peter could strengthen other people.
I believe this is one reason the enemy wants our faith. When we know who we are in Christ, our lives become visible evidence that Jesus is alive.
Second Corinthians 5:17 says anyone in Christ is a new creature.
First Peter 2:9 says we have been called out of darkness into His marvellous light so that we can show forth His praises.
“Ye are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14,16
The enemy wants to steal our witness.
He wants to steal our light and choke our hope.
He wants us ashamed, distracted, offended, or silent because our testimony can point another person to Jesus.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11
Our testimony does not glorify the darkness we came through. It tells the truth about the darkness so the light of Christ becomes unmistakable. No wonder the enemy fights the story God intends to use.
WHEN FAITH IS TESTED
I have wrestled with this part. I have thought:
“Maybe I needed to go through what I went through because my faith had to be tested. Was it genuine? Was it real?”
But I want to be careful with how I say that.
“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1Peter 1:6-7
God does allow faith to be tried and refined.
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God… neither tempteth he any man.” James 1:13
The trial was what happened. The temptation was the lie about what it meant.
My heart was tested by pain. The enemy tempted me to interpret that pain as proof that God was not good, and I agreed with him.
My response was my responsibility.
The mercy that found me was God’s.
So no, I do not believe God needed me to rebel for twelve years. I did not need sin in order for God to teach me. But God refused to waste even those years.
Romans 8:28 says,” He works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”
That does not mean all things are good.
It means God is so good that even what the enemy meant for destruction can be redeemed.
I do not call the wandering good. I call God good because He redeemed it.
THE SEED FROM MY YOUTH
During those years, there were still memories in me:
Singing to the Lord. Feeling His presence. Loving Him. Loving His Word.
The seeds of truth from my youth were never meaningless to God.
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Psalm 119:11
“From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:15.
“God’s Word does not return to Him void but accomplishes what He pleases.” Isaiah 55:11 says
The Holy Spirit used the truth I had known to draw me back to the One those truths were about.
I remembered.
I came back to myself.
I returned home.
“If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13
His faithfulness was not permission for me to remain far away. It was mercy calling me to repentance.
“The goodness of God leads us to repentance.” Romans 2:4
WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS PARABLE?
Where is your heart right now?
Has your heart become hard, so the Word barely enters before the enemy snatches it away?
Did you receive the Word with joy, but a painful circumstance has made you offended with God?
Are the cares of this life—money, comfort, ambition, fear, or other desires—choking your relationship with Him?
Or are you hearing the Word, receiving it, keeping it, and allowing it to bear fruit?
What have you decided about God because something went wrong?
Did you decide He is not good?
That He cannot be trusted?
That obedience costs too much?
That control is safer than surrender?
That you will come back later?
Maybe you did not physically walk away. Maybe you still go to church. You still carry a Bible.
You still know how to say the right things. But somewhere inside, you withdrew your heart from God because you were hurt.
This teaching is for you too.
“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Luke 8:15
Good ground is not a heart that has never been wounded. It is an honest heart that is willing to hear, receive, keep, and obey the Word.
Do not use this parable to label yourself as hopeless soil. Bring your heart back to the Sower. Ask Him to expose the lie, pull up the bitterness, remove the thorns, and make the roots go deep.
THE FATHER RAN TO ME
Like the prodigal son, I came to myself, and I came home.
Jesus says that while the son was still a great way off, his father saw him, had compassion, ran to him, fell on his neck, and kissed him.
The father brought out the best robe and celebrated because the son who had been lost was found. Read Luke 15:17–24.
This is what God did for me.
I came home, and God did not receive me with folded arms. He received me with mercy.
He did not pretend the twelve years did not matter, but He did not make me live forever under the shame of them either. This is why I love Him so much. What a merciful and gracious Father!
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.” Isaiah 61:10
The best robe in the prodigal story and the robe of righteousness in Isaiah meet in the truth of the gospel.
I was not welcomed because I finally made my wandering respectable.
I was welcomed because Jesus made a way for me to return. God covered my shame, restored my identity, and gave my testimony back to me.
The Father’s welcome did not make the wandering harmless. It revealed His mercy was greater.
I am not sharing this as a woman who always got the soil right. I am sharing as someone who knows what it costs to let offense remain—and what mercy feels like when the Father runs to meet you.
If you are far away, come home. If you are angry with God, tell Him the truth. But also repent for judging His character through your wound.
If the cares of this life are choking the Word, make room again. If your faith has shallow roots, stop living only on yesterday’s revelation.
Return to the Word and let God grow something deep in you. Do not give the enemy your faith, your light, hope, witness, or testimony.
The enemy may have fought the seed, but he does not get the final word over a heart that turns back to God.
Peter was sifted, and then he strengthened his brethren.
The prodigal was lost, and then he was found. The seed was attacked, but on good ground, it still brought forth fruit.
Maybe this is the moment you come to yourself. Maybe this is the moment you come home.
“Father, thank You for every seed of truth You have planted in us.
Show us where pain, offense, fear, busyness, or desire has made our hearts hard or crowded.
Forgive us for judging Your character through our wounds and for trying to become our own god.
Pull up every root of bitterness.
Give Your Word deep roots in us.
Restore the one who has walked away.
Strengthen the one whose faith is being sifted.
Make our lives fruitful again.
Thank You that when we turn toward home, You meet us with mercy.
Cover us in the righteousness of Jesus, and use our testimony to help bring someone else out of darkness and into Your marvellous light.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Mark 4:14–20 — The seed is the Word; Satan steals it, offense exposes shallow roots, cares choke it, and good ground bears fruit.
1 Peter 1:23 — God’s Word is incorruptible seed through which we are born again.
James 1:21 — The engrafted Word is able to save the soul and must be received with meekness.
Romans 10:17 — Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
Luke 8:14–15 — The cares, riches, and pleasures of life choke the Word; an honest heart keeps it and bears fruit with patience.
Ephesians 4:26–27 — Unresolved wrath can give place to the devil.
Hebrews 12:15 — A root of bitterness troubles the person carrying it and can defile others.
Hebrews 3:12–13 — Unbelief can lead a heart away from God, while sin’s deceitfulness hardens it.
Proverbs 3:5–6 — Faith trusts God instead of making personal understanding the final authority.
2 Corinthians 10:4–5 — Spiritual strongholds and thoughts that contradict the knowledge of God must be brought into obedience to Christ.
Romans 8:38–39 — Pain does not have the authority to separate a believer from God’s love in Christ.
Luke 22:31–32 — Satan sought to sift Peter’s faith, but Jesus prayed for him and called him to strengthen others after returning.
John 10:10 — The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy; Jesus comes to give abundant life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 — Identity in Christ is the identity of a new creation.
1 Peter 2:9 — Believers are called out of darkness to proclaim God’s praises.
Matthew 5:14–16 — Believers are the light of the world, and their lives should point others to the Father.
Romans 15:13 — God is the source of hope and fills believers with joy and peace through faith.
Revelation 12:11 — The blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony are connected with overcoming the accuser.
1 Peter 1:6–7 — Trials refine genuine faith as fire refines gold.
James 1:13 — God does not tempt anyone with evil.
Romans 8:28 — God works all things together for good without calling every event or choice good.
Psalm 119:11 — God’s Word can be hidden in the heart.
2 Timothy 3:15 — Scripture known from childhood can make a person wise unto salvation through faith in Christ.
Isaiah 55:10–11 — God’s Word accomplishes His purpose and does not return empty.
2 Timothy 2:13 — God remains faithful even when human faithfulness fails.
Romans 2:4 — God’s goodness leads people to repentance.
Luke 15:17–24 — The prodigal comes to himself, returns, and is met by the Father’s compassion, embrace, robe, and celebration.
Isaiah 61:10 — God clothes His people with salvation and the robe of righteousness.
