Jesus told the crowds this parable:
"Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"
I am just returning from my retreat in the Rocky Mountains—inspiring, profound, stark scenery. The peaks are, of course, all rocky. Trees cannot grow, nor even grasses. There is no soil. But when you get to the top you see that there are pockets of moss and flowers flourishing in every little crag.
That how life get's a foothold on these peaks, moss grows in a crack, breaking down the rock, creating a little pocket of soil where flowers can grow. The flowers eventually create a place where grasses and trees can grow, life slowly gaining a foothold.
In this parable, Jesus is a crazy farmer, throwing seeds everywhere. A good farmer would not waste seed like that, but God does. You and I are the seeds that Jesus sews. We carry the word and multiply it thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.
Meditating on this parable, I say "Throw me in the rocky soil!" Like the flowers on the mountaintops, some of these seeds on rocky soil will indeed take root and live, finding a little bit of soil in a crack in the rock. Many will indeed wither, but it is only through the lives of these flowers that the barren ground will ever have a chance to be transformed into grasses and trees. Any seed can grow in good soil, but you seem to have given me a faith that does not wither, that grows in the thinnest soil, that comes alive in the strangest places like gold that's tested in fire—so sew me on that rocky soil that needs to be transformed.