Good soil may be a major factor in determining how well a plant grows. Science can explain the role of soil, water, sunlight, nutrients, and other conditions. But from the perspective of God, there is a deeper truth: a plant can only grow if God allows it to grow.

We can prepare the soil, plant the seed, water it, and create the right conditions, but ultimately, God gives the increase. Human preparation does not remove divine sovereignty.

This principle extends far beyond agriculture. It applies to our lives, our work, our businesses, our relationships, and everything we desire to establish.

God Can Make Things Grow in Unlikely Places

One of the clearest pictures of this is found in David’s declaration:

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” — Psalm 23:5

Think about the environment described here. A table is being prepared, but it is being prepared in the presence of enemies.

That environment does not appear to be the ideal place for a feast. Yet God prepares the table there anyway.

This reveals something powerful about God: the environment does not have the final say. God does.

What looks like an impossible environment can still become the place where God causes you to flourish. What looks like a closed door can become the place where God makes a way. What looks like the wrong season can become the very season in which God establishes His purpose.

If God wants something to grow, it does not matter how unfavorable the environment appears. Things only move if God moves them.

Trust God, Not Just the Resources

This is why our confidence cannot ultimately be placed in the resources available to us.

It is easy to look at the quality of our work, the strength of our business, our qualifications, our finances, or the number of people we know and conclude that our future is secure because of these things.

But resources are not the source. Connections are not the source. Human ability is not the source. God is the source.

The danger is not in having resources or connections. The danger is in trusting them more than we trust God.

Scripture warns us about putting our confidence in man because human strength has limitations. People can change. Doors can close. Businesses can fail. Connections can disappear. Resources can run out.

But God remains God.

Therefore, our confidence must not be, “I have enough people.” It must not be, “I have enough money.” It must not be, “I have enough knowledge.”

It must be, “God is with me, and if He establishes it, it will stand.”

Unless God Builds, We Build in Vain

Psalm 127 gives us one of the strongest principles for ending wasted effort:

“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” — Psalm 127:1

Notice that the builders are still building. There is effort. There is labour. There is activity.

But there is a problem: God is not the builder.

And when God is excluded from the foundation of what we are building, our labour can become endless activity without lasting establishment.

This is where we must understand the difference between effort and divine establishment.

You can work hard and still not see the desired result. You can be talented and still struggle. You can have a good strategy and still experience disappointment. You can come extremely close and still not arrive.

This is what I call the near-success syndrome—the frustration of repeatedly coming close to the result without experiencing the fullness of what you have laboured for.

Sometimes the answer is not simply, “Work harder.” Sometimes the deeper question is:

“Is God building this with me?”

Because when God builds, our labour is no longer merely human effort trying to force an outcome. We are participating in what God Himself is establishing.

Stop Measuring Your Future by Your Environment

The good soil is not the ultimate determinant. The size of your network is not the ultimate determinant. The strength of your business is not the ultimate determinant. Your present circumstances are not the ultimate determinant.

God is.

This does not mean we become careless or refuse to prepare. We should work, plan, learn, build, sow, and steward what God has placed in our hands.

But we must never confuse our responsibility with God’s sovereignty.

We plant. We water. We build. We labour. But God gives the increase.

And when God decides to move, He can make something grow where nobody expected it to grow. He can prepare a table where enemies expected hunger. He can open a door where there seemed to be no entrance. He can establish what human effort could not establish. He can breathe upon what appeared dead.

The Final Confidence

The greatest confidence we can have is not that everything around us is working perfectly. It is that God is working.

If God moves, things move. If God opens, no man can shut. If God establishes, no opposition can ultimately destroy it. If God gives increase, no limitation can prevent His purpose from being fulfilled.

So build—but let God build with you. Work—but trust God for the fruit. Prepare the soil—but trust God for the growth. Make connections—but do not make connections your confidence. Use your resources—but never make resources your source.

Because at the end of it all:

THINGS ONLY MOVE IF GOD MOVES THEM.