In a vision the Lord showed me a church service held in a large sanctuary. In the sanctuary sat row after row of pews filled with people. Suddenly the vision changed. The church service was transfigured into a field with the rows of people sitting in pews becoming long furrows in the soil. Seeing through the soil, I could see each person appeared like a kernel of corn. The kernels laid dormant under a thick blanket of soil.

All of the sudden I heard a message being spoken, and while I heard this I also saw a farmer come and spread fertilizer over the field of dormant seeds. Next, I heard the sound of singing, strong and beautiful, and while I heard the music I saw the farmer set out the irrigation equipment and water the field of dormant seeds. Following this I heard a person teaching and again came the farmer only this time he was spraying herbicide. Then I heard the sound of pages turning, and the farmer came once again spraying pesticide on the field of dormant seeds.

All of these things happened over and over again until the kernels of corn lay buried very deep under layers of soil, fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide. All that could be done to promote growth and protect the planting was being done — but the seeds did not grow.

As I looked upon the kernels of corn laying in the field, I could see their naturally hard exterior shell had become very stony — like a stone wall they hid inside. The seeds knew they were to burst forth, but they felt too safe and too secure to break out of their shells.

I then heard a loud clap of thunder, and in the thunder were the words “Come forth!” With this some of the kernels of corn broke through their shells and began to grow, sending roots downward and shoots upward.

Though the Lord has been gracious to provide for us preaching, worship, and instruction both through others and in writing, it is not sufficient to simply accumulate these, we must assimilate them. All the Lord is doing for us must be taken in and allowed to have its full, desired effect. If we heap more and more upon those who are not growing, it will not make them grow, it will only further bury them. The Lord is speaking forth to those who are planted in the soil He has prepared for them and yet have not started to grow and take root … “Come forth!”