Something I have been excited about doing and learning as I go is gardening. This spring we decided to tear up the old garden at the group home and start anew. We made it an outing for the day, going to Lowe's and picking out all sorts of vegetables, flowers and plants. The whole thing was meant to be a group effort, and yet I think people just liked the idea of picking out the plants without actually doing the work. This meant that me and one other resident did all the work after leaving for my time off and finding that they remained unplanted.
With everything planted I kept thinking of more places to plant, noticing little places on the side of the house where we could grow stuff. The possibilities are endless! I don't know if I'm doing stuff right, but I'm learning as I'm going and its fun. Its fun to watch the plants grow and feel that you have some part in it.
Yesterday, I dug up some earth on the side of the house that was being wasted. Last year it was an eye sore as weeds always sprouted up and then died there. I had been trying how to take care of that spot and make it more beautiful when I remembered that we had bok choi seeds. After turning the soil and hoeing it and smoothing it out, I began to plant. I couldn't help but remember the parable (nonbiblical) of the king that tested the people by giving them soil with seeds to take care of. He gave out pots to a group and said that they return after a certain passing of days. One boy watered and watered his to no avail, nothing would grow. He looked at his peers in wonder as their plants sprouted. When the time came, they all presented their plants to the king proudly, except the one boy who humbly presented his lowly pot that only contained soil. It turns out that this was a test of honesty, and all failed except the one boy.
A few weeks ago, we talked about the parable of the talents in church. The pastor mentioned that someone had posed the question of what if the person that was given the least number of talents/currency was actually the most gifted of the servants and the master expected him to put his skills to use to make something of the little he was given? What a different perspective on the story!
I'm trying to piece together my thoughts from these two stories as it leads to questions for me. I'm thinking, how often do we almost feel pressured to have results or something to show in our lives or ministry? I think a lot, because we tend to like success or what we view as something that makes our work worthwhile. Its natural for us as humans. I recall missionaries sharing their difficulty in working in France and coming back and having very little to speak of as far as concrete success. People don't like to hear that. They had been missionaries in Africa and people loved hearing their stories of hundreds of people coming to faith. But, does God see all this the way we do? How often is he asking us to be faithful and honest with what he has given us? Does he see a different purpose for what he asks us to do? Are we ever guilty of sneaking in seeds in our soil when we freak out that nothing is growing? Maybe, he's trying to show us something different.
I fear that at times, when life is shaken up and our faith nears faltering that we look for something, anything to grab ahold of to show us that we are doing the right thing or to affirm us. We look in the wrong place. These false seeds are our idols; when we want to SEE and TOUCH something after being led by fire and cloud we build a golden calf.
So, though at times you seem to have little, have faith because you don't know what God has in mind and He can do much more through you than you can by planting your own seeds of success. We are accountable to Him in the end, so don't forge his seal of approval on your work.
