Introduction
Are you willing to keep obeying Jesus when it feels like nothing is happening, when your prayers seem unanswered, your growth feels slow, and the darkness in the world looks louder than the light? The central truth Jesus teaches in Mark 4:26–34 is that God’s kingdom grows by God’s power in God’s timing, often in hidden ways we cannot explain, so our calling is to receive His Word, sow it faithfully, and trust Him for the increase. Mark 4 captures one full day in Jesus’ ministry. Crowds are pressing in for mixed reasons: some want miracles, some want deliverance, some are amazed by His authority, and some are watching Him with suspicion. Not all crowds are the same. So Jesus teaches in parables, stories that will open the kingdom to those who truly want to understand, and remain closed to those who only want spectacle or arguments. And He answers a question many of us ask in some form: “Is this actually working?”
Main Points
Are you willing to keep obeying Jesus when it feels like nothing is happening, when your prayers seem unanswered, your growth feels slow, and the darkness in the world looks louder than the light? The central truth Jesus teaches in Mark 4:26–34 is that God’s kingdom grows by God’s power in God’s timing, often in hidden ways we cannot explain, so our calling is to receive His Word, sow it faithfully, and trust Him for the increase.
Mark 4 captures one full day in Jesus’ ministry. Crowds are pressing in for mixed reasons: some want miracles, some want deliverance, some are amazed by His authority, and some are watching Him with suspicion. Not all crowds are the same. So Jesus teaches in parables, stories that will open the kingdom to those who truly want to understand, and remain closed to those who only want spectacle or arguments. And He answers a question many of us ask in some form: “Is this actually working?”
The Kingdom Often Feels Slow
Jesus knows that excitement and expectation can crash into discouragement. We start following Him, we hear the Word, we make changes, we get baptized, we join the church, and then a few weeks or months later we wonder why we don’t “feel” different. We look at our habits and see stubborn patterns. We look at the culture and see chaos. We look at our family and see tension. And the question rises: Is the kingdom of God really advancing? Is the Word really doing anything in me?
Jesus’ parables meet us right there. The kingdom does not always look the way we expect, especially if we expect God to work according to our preferred timeline, emotional experience, or visible results. The Messiah they expected would overthrow Rome. The Messiah they received would be rejected and die. That mismatch is part of what Jesus is correcting: the kingdom advances, but not by earthly strategies and not always in obvious ways.
Hidden Growth Is Still Real Growth (Mark 4:26–29)
Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground” (Mark 4:26). The farmer does his part, he sows, and then something surprising happens: he sleeps, rises, lives his life, and the seed sprouts and grows, “he himself does not know how” (Mark 4:27).
That’s the point. There is a mysterious, subterranean work that happens beyond the farmer’s understanding and beyond his control. The process is real and ordered, “first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head” (Mark 4:28), but it isn’t instantaneous. And when the grain ripens, the farmer harvests (Mark 4:29). Sowing leads to a sure harvest, but there is a divinely designed gap called growth.
So I want to disciple you into a needed kind of faith: don’t confuse “I can’t see it” with “God isn’t doing it.” Some of God’s deepest work in you happens while you’re simply walking with Him day by day, hearing the Word, repenting, praying, worshiping, resisting temptation, returning when you fail, and showing up again.
God Gives the Increase, Not Us
We are tempted to credit kingdom progress to impressive people: the preacher with unusual authority, the worship leader with anointed songs, the charismatic evangelist, the “right” ministry strategy. But Jesus’ parable won’t allow that. The farmer cannot manufacture life. He can’t command the seed to sprout. He can’t force the grain to ripen. He’s dependent.
Paul says the same thing to the Corinthian church when they started ranking Christian leaders like celebrities: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6–7).
Let this humble and free you at the same time:
- Humble you: because you can’t take credit for spiritual fruit in yourself or others.
- Free you: because you don’t have to carry the crushing pressure of producing results that only God can produce.
Your job is real, but it is limited: sow the Word, pray for rain, cultivate soft soil, and stay faithful. God’s job is the miracle of life.
Trust God’s Mysterious Work in Dark Times
If you look only at the surface of the world, it’s easy to conclude the kingdom is losing. Division, confusion, moral breakdown, and spiritual deconstruction can make you wonder whether the church will endure.
But Jesus trains our vision. He says the kingdom grows in ways we cannot always observe. God may be working right now in places you would never predict, among people who seem far from Him, inside cultural movements that feel hostile to the gospel, within broken families, or in hearts that appear closed. The farmer does not see what is happening underground, but he trusts the design of God.
So I want you to learn to ask a better question than “Why isn’t this faster?” Ask, “Am I being faithful to sow and trust while God works in hidden ways?”
Your Growth Is God’s Guaranteed Project (Romans 8)
This parable isn’t only about “out there” kingdom expansion; it’s also about “in here” sanctification, your actual growth into Christlikeness. If God planted His Word in you and gave you ears to hear, then He has already begun a work He intends to finish.
Romans 8 anchors this hope: God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). And then comes the unbreakable chain of His saving work: those He foreknew He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son; those He predestined He called; those He called He justified; and those He justified He also glorified (Romans 8:29–30).
Do you hear what that means for you? If you are truly in Christ, your final harvest is not in question. Your growth may feel slow, “day by day by day”, but God is not guessing about the outcome. He is committed to conforming you to Jesus.
The Harvest Is Certain and Coming
Mark 4 ends this parable with urgency: “When the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:29). There is a finish line. God is not only growing; He is also gathering. The kingdom has a forward movement toward completion.
That certainty stabilizes you when you’re tempted to quit. If God has sown His Word, the harvest will come. The kingdom is not fragile. The church’s future is not ultimately resting on cultural approval, political conditions, or human strength. God will finish what He started, both in the world and in His people.
Conclusion
Jesus teaches these parables because He loves disciples enough to correct our expectations. The kingdom doesn’t always “feel like it’s working,” but it is working, by God’s power, through God’s Word, according to God’s design. I want you to keep sowing. Keep showing up. Keep praying. Keep trusting when you can’t see results. The seed is doing what God designed it to do, even when the growth is underground.
So when discouragement whispers, “Nothing is happening,” answer it with faith: God gives the increase. First the blade, then the head, then the full grain. And then the harvest.
Father, thank You for the Word of Jesus that steadies our hearts when we feel impatient, discouraged, or confused. Forgive us for demanding visible results on our timeline. Teach us to trust Your hidden work, the way You grow Your kingdom and the way You grow us. Give us soft hearts to receive Your Word, faithful hands to sow it, and patient faith to wait for the harvest You have promised. Strengthen those who feel like they haven’t changed, those who feel like the world is winning, and those who are weary in doing good. We praise You because You alone give the increase. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Jesus teaches these parables because He loves disciples enough to correct our expectations. The kingdom doesn’t always “feel like it’s working,” but it is working, by God’s power, through God’s Word, according to God’s design. I want you to keep sowing. Keep showing up. Keep praying. Keep trusting when you can’t see results. The seed is doing what God designed it to do, even when the growth is underground.
So when discouragement whispers, “Nothing is happening,” answer it with faith: God gives the increase. First the blade, then the head, then the full grain. And then the harvest.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for the Word of Jesus that steadies our hearts when we feel impatient, discouraged, or confused. Forgive us for demanding visible results on our timeline. Teach us to trust Your hidden work, the way You grow Your kingdom and the way You grow us. Give us soft hearts to receive Your Word, faithful hands to sow it, and patient faith to wait for the harvest You have promised. Strengthen those who feel like they haven’t changed, those who feel like the world is winning, and those who are weary in doing good. We praise You because You alone give the increase. In Jesus’ name, amen.