Jen’s Gem: There is always something new to learn.
Over the past few weeks, I have been enjoying the bounty from my garden. Fresh lettuce, radishes, carrots, and the other day, my first cucumbers and green beans. The satisfaction that has come from this endeavor is indescribable. Fresh really is best.
Each time I visit the garden, I learn something new. I’m blessed to have a bestie who is a master gardener and she has shared her pearls of wisdom about everything from where to plant to when to harvest. She has tirelessly helped me put up makeshift trellises and has shared tools and gadgets that have eased the work.
Yesterday, with few people at the garden, I reveled in the peace and tranquility. During this time, several revelations came to me that I want to share with you. I hope they bless you as much as they did me.
- You reap what you sow.
This principle is rooted in farming. The Bible speaks of it often and its simplicity is actually mind-boggling. If you sow cucumber seeds, you will reap cucumbers. If you sow romaine lettuce, you will reap romaine lettuce. I cannot expect to reap a cucumber if I plant lettuce. Makes sense, yes?
Let’s look at this concept outside of agriculture. When we sow seeds of love and forgiveness, we will reap love and forgiveness. The opposite is also true. Sowing hatred or unforgiveness reaps the same.
Many times we struggle with how people treat us. We marvel at their unkindness, judgement, or other negative behavior. However, are these people a result of what we have sown throughout our lives? Have we been unkind or judgmental?
If you want to reap more love, kindness, forgiveness in your life, you must sow these seeds. (Galatians 6:7)
- You short-circuit your future by holding on to your past.
Every time I come home with a bag of veggies, I proudly show it to my son who usually responds with something like “they’re full of dirt.” True statement. I explain to him that once they are cleaned up, they will be ready to eat. I then proceed to rinse and rinse and rinse until they rival the veggies in the produce section of my local grocery store.
Each of us has our own pile of dirt that has to be washed away before we can expect to fulfill our purpose. If we’ve been alive for more than a minute, we have experienced some sort of challenge. Yet holding on to the past steals our future. Blaming people, places, and things for our circumstances keeps us stuck.
The Bible tells us that you can’t put new wine into old wineskins (Matthew 9:17). If you do, the wineskin will break, the wine will spill out, and you have a hot mess on your hands. Likewise, if we are carrying around the burdens of the past, we will be hard-pressed to be open to all the blessings God has in store for us.
- Doing too much will stunt your growth.
When I planted my carrots and radishes, I placed too many seeds together. The result? Baby carrots and miniscule radishes. Because I overcrowded the seeds, they could not grow to their full potential.
By jam packing our day planners with tasks and to-do’s, we are kept so busy that we can’t see the forest through the trees. We cannot see solutions to problems, visions for businesses, or ideas for new ventures. We stunt our growth. We miss God’s purpose for us. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Even without an audible voice, my vegetable garden reveals life lessons with every visit. Likewise, every time I read my Bible, something new is revealed that teaches me more about who God is and how much He loves me.
This “progressive revelation,” as my podcast co-host Karen Salisbury speaks about is what draws me to spend time in God’s Word every day. Just as I visit my garden several times each week to reap my harvest, I want to reap the harvest of God’s promises. I can only do this if I know what they actually are.
To do this, I must spend time with Him.
I want to encourage you to examine what you are sowing, let go of the past and slow down. While your veggies may not grab your attention, your Father in Heaven is trying to.