We Plant It, God Grows It

Did you plant a garden this year? We did and it’s the largest one that we’ve planted to date! It has been such a fun season as we’ve been harvesting beans, squash, peas, broccoli, corn, cucumbers, and lots of tomatoes! While a lot of the plants are beginning to die off, we still have quite a bit left to harvest and a few things we’re still waiting on to finish ripening like our pumpkins. I find such joy in planting seeds in the spring and watching them sprout and grow all summer long. I’ve been working on starting them inside to try to make our growing season as long as possible. This year I started a lot of tomato plants inside, but never got around to re-potting them in bigger containers as they grew which meant many became root bound. We planted them anyway and I prayed that God would allow those plants to grow and produce well, but I honestly didn’t think they would make it. Well, they certainly did and now we have plants well over five feet tall! God is so good to bless us even when we make mistakes isn’t He?

Earlier this year I was reading through 1 Corinthians and I was so struck by a couple of verses that they have become today’s topic. In chapter 3, Paul is writing about divisions in the church and is explaining to the Corinthian church that they shouldn’t follow him or Apollos, but only God. Paul writes in verses 6-7, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” Did you catch that? Only God gives growth. I think that it’s easy to forget that without God our plants will not grow. It doesn’t matter if we do everything correctly, we cannot actually cause a seed to produce a sprout — let alone bear any fruit!

During planting time I often hear people ask “What are you growing this year?” Maybe what we ought to ask is “What are you planting this year?” You see, God doesn’t require us to cause seeds to produce — think of all the wild berries, huge forests, beautiful plants and flowers where no one planted them. There’s beautiful landscape all over the world that no one planted on purpose. He has a system in place that allows for vegetation to grow. We can find evidence of this in Genesis 1:11, “And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth,” And it was so.” Since the third day of Creation God has been growing vegetation — even before mankind existed, so He clearly doesn’t require our help to make anything grow!

Now, do I think that we play a role when we’re gardening? Absolutely! God allows us to participate in the beautiful act of planting, watering, and reaping. He gives us tools and wisdom to cultivate an environment to allow the plants to have the best chance at surviving and thriving. We live in a fallen world, so there are pests and weeds that we have to protect our plants from if we want them to thrive. We play a role, but we don’t grow the produce. Does that make sense?

This analogy applies to more than just our physical gardens. It applies to our spiritual gardens as well. Jesus talks about seeds in Matthew 13 when He is telling them the “Parable of the Sower.” First, He talks about seeds falling along the path and being eaten by birds (v.4). Second, He talks about some seeds falling on rocky ground and springing up, but being scorched in the sun (v. 5&6). Third, He talks about seeds falling among thorns and being choked out (v. 7). Fourth, He talks about seeds falling on good soil and producing abundantly (v.8). We are the sower. We plant the seed of the Gospel, but we don’t grow the seed — the Holy Spirit does. We can even water the seed of the Gospel by teaching the person all about God and sharing all the wonderful things that He has done in our life, but until they allow the Holy Spirit to do the transformation it will not grow.

We, as human beings, often like to take credit for success. We like to think that we are capable of doing far more than we really are on our own. We like to think that we grow the produce, that we grow a believer, we even try to take credit for growing a baby in the womb even though in Psalm 139:13-14 it says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” God does the growing — He grows the garden seed, He grows the Gospel seed, and He grows the baby.

To be very clear, He does NOT grow evil seeds, wicked seeds, or any other type of “bad” seed including, but not limited to, envy, greed, covetousness, or any other behavior that He has declared as sin. All of that growth is the result of living in a very broken, fallen world.

So, the next time you go out to collect your harvest or eat any produce — remember Who really grew it and thank Him for allowing that seed to produce!

Song of the week: This week I’m picking “God, Turn It Around” by Jon Reddick just because I really like it! Enjoy!