Harvest
By an early November date, we have had our first frost in Kentucky.
It’s when our garden approaches its seasonal deep sleep.
For the first time ever, my husband and I had a flourishing and thriving garden. And now it’s tired. I know we are.
God wasn’t kidding when He said, “By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat.”
What an illustration a garden is of this decree.
Cultivating a garden is plain hard work. We have tried to just lay seeds, but it’s much more than that. We learned protective measures had to be constructed and anchored down and all around. It was important that the soil was tended to and amended. We determined a blood meal had to be added. And, don’t we know there’s power in the blood. It’s all a mysterious process, but we trust, we wait and we have faith.
We had to be careful, though. There are a lot of artificial fixes that claim to be beneficial but they only prove to work for the short term and not over time.
Our garden’s real lifeline is a protective layering of mulch. God’s natural resources basically uses what dies and decays and adds life to the seeds we plant. Signs of life emerge and the seed grows in the soil and the soil grows in the seed.
What a dependent relationship!
Even after all that, sturdy structures secure the plants as they grow. And as roots grow deeper and the plants grow bigger, the stronger our supports become. A toppled plant is an unfortunate casualty without these systems.
Planting companions are a necessity and together the harvest is plentiful.
Of course, routine maintenance of weeds is always in order. These troublemakers take advantage of unintentional neglect. They grow with a fury to shade and choke out all potential for a promising bountiful harvest. My poor watermelons.
I honestly, don’t know how we as humans have fruit and vegetables to put on the table. But I can tell you with time, prayer and a great deal of care, what is so diligently cultivated can actually yield a harvest.
With one feather-weight seed we gained a plant that returned more seeds than I could count. What a visible demonstration how God accomplishes infinitely more than we might ask or think.
“People have seen all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities. His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks.”
Cultivating a garden grants a whole new meaning to experiencing gratitude for the harvest of the season.
The harvest is plentiful. The workers are few.
Genesis 3:19
Romans 1:20-21
Ephesians 3:20
Luke 8:11
Luke 10:2