The Grower

Each year we plant our garden and fill it with tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, radishes, garlic and onions.  As we go through the process of tilling up the ground, planting the crops and waiting for the harvest God often teaches us so much.  Some lessons are more like reminders of planting the seeds and harvesting but this time a new one came to my mind.  This year our harvest began unusually early.  We have an abundance of peppers growing and have already picked many.  Our peppers have always been late to come, long after our tomatoes.  Already, I can’t keep up with our squash.  Each plant itself, whether bearing fruit yet or not, is unusually large.  This was such a pleasant surprise and I can’t figure out what we’ve done differently.  The only thing about our garden that varies is the compost we put in it and the arrangement of our plants.

One thing remains true from year to year is that although we take our time planting our garden and tending to it each day, Randy and I have no control over the growth or timing of our harvest.  There have been years we have put just as much time and commitment into it yet our harvest came just shy of a frost.  This year we even left it unattended for one week during blazing hot weather praying we wouldn’t come home to dry, withered plants.  The majority of my flowers died but our garden was bursting with blooms and the promise of life.  I’ve been amazed, thankful and continually learning lessons of God’s faithfulness and abundant blessings.  But again, the biggest reminder is that ultimately, He is in control of the growing process.

God is the ultimate Grower (Genesis 1).  From the vegetables in our gardens to the mighty oak trees.  He grows the grass that covers the plains to the ocean side palm trees.  He’s the grower of each baby in every mother’s womb (Psalm 139:14-16).   We can facilitate some of these growing processes (such as planting seeds) but when it comes time for the growth, we can only stand back and watch the wonders of our Creator.

Just as God is the Grower of all things, He is also the grower of our spiritual lives.   Once a “seed” is planted we do have our share of responsibilities like making the choice to allow it to grow, tending to the “soil” (Luke 8:4-21) and “watering” it by reading God’s Word and taking steps to deepen our relationship with God.  All the while we must keep in mind that God is in control of the growing process itself.  We must be willing to stand back and give that control to Him.  In His time, a harvest in our lives will come.  That may be in abundance and early to arrive or we may have to patiently wait in trusting obedience.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9

“But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.  He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”  Matthew 13:23