The sleeping seed: a true story

One fateful day, however, he became seriously ill. Doctors told him that the road back to health would be long and difficult. The news knocked Luis sideways. Feeling as though his very life was threatened, he went to pieces. He cut himself off from everything around him – he felt he had to: his relationships, his work – in which he had achieved so much – his holidays … many important things in his life and also many lesser – but nevertheless useful – ones fell into decay. Forgetting all these things and doing everything he could to get well was his priority. Everything else would have to wait.

Suffering

He spent months suffering, waiting for what never seemed to come. Time seemed to have stood still; the days were never-ending.

But eventually the moment did arrive when he began to gradually recover. He found he could resume a normal life – albeit in a restricted form. But with no job and no money, he had to start again from nothing.

Whom could he turn to? His immediate family, having lost a great deal in the war, were poor. For Luis, the present – as well as his future prospects – looked bleak. At the time when he was beginning to pick up the pieces, everyone else seemed to be having a hard time, too.

Years earlier, a Bible Society colporteur had called at Luis’s parents’ home selling Bibles from door to door. They bought one. It only cost a few pesetas and they put it on a shelf with a few other books. Now, much later, Luis came across it and – perhaps for the first time – picked it up. He was going through a time of special need and from the moment the little Bible caught his eye, he began to read it with growing curiosity. The first book he turned to was the Book of James; it stirred his mind and spirit deeply and gave him a good feeling.

After James, he continued reading: the Gospels…the Letter to the Philippians…Psalms and Proverbs. In between these, he dipped into other books.

Nourished

For Luis, reading these Scriptures was like being nourished with real food and drink. When he picked up the Bible, something mysterious happened, even before he started to read it. Almost in spite of himself, he came to feel a high regard for the content of the inexpensive little book. He was greatly encouraged by the strength which reading it gave him.

He had reached his lowest point, yet now a new and vigorous life was born in him.

When he returned to work, he found that, hour by hour, God’s Word gave him the strength he needed to overcome his failures and to move on to new successes. For years, Luis has lived a life more dedicated to others than to himself. The words of the Bible have been – and continue to be – glowing beacons, guiding and shaping his behaviour, his character and his destiny. (WR 389/12 - 12.04/01.05)