Scripture Scribbles: May 3, 2026
the Gospel
John 14:1-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way."
Thomas said to him,
"Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said to him,
"Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father."
the scribble
You ever realize how seeds have to be covered in dirt in order to grow?
Think about it..
It’s completely dark.
It takes time.
Some hidden time.
Before things change, away from any visual proof of anything happening at all.
Early growth is seemingly random, too.
A shoot here, a twisting sprout there.
Often roots grow first, going deeper down into the darkness in all directions.
Imagine being the seed, for a moment. It would be maddening, not knowing what was happening or why. Thinking at times the growth even seems backwards rather than just directly up toward the surface.
You can’t see what’s happening, or where it’s going, but this first step–to be covered in dirt–is necessary in order to sprout new life.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2)
“Learn from the way the wildflowers grow.” (Matthew 6:28)
My friends, we are the seeds.
The Lord, in His infinite goodness, has created a natural world that reflects back to us the nature of our soul. Just as seeds grow in the darkness, hidden away, in seemingly random and unique patterns, so do each of us. And just as gardeners are able to see and know the whole reality of what’s happening when a plant is growing, our loving Father is carefully allowing the proper growth where it is needed and pruning or cutting away what is not, in order for us to grow into the most vibrant, healthy, radiant bloom that we can be.
I relate so deeply to Thomas, who asks in today’s Gospel, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"
I can just hear the urgency, the pain, the agony, in Thomas’s voice as he attempts to make Jesus understand just how lost we all are.
And I take such comfort in Jesus’s response back to him: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Just as only the gardener can see and prune for proper growth in a plant, only the Lord can lead us into new life. Thomas is exactly right in saying we do not know the way. We do not know where we are going.
But He does. He is the way.
So what does this mean for us? As little seeds, waiting helplessly under the hidden, dark earth?
We simply must surrender it all to His loving care. We have to give Him everything, in complete and total trust. Just as a seed must, we must allow ourselves to be cared for, to receive the sun when it comes, to endure the rain when it falls. But all along to trust that the tender Gardener is caring for us every step of the way.
He is working diligently in our lives, our hearts, our relationships, our decisions, every twist and turn of our path, to reveal our own true identity to our very selves.
Today’s devotion was written by Rachel Smith
