Prophetic Gardening

I will never look at a vegetable garden the same again.

We worked the ground until our sweat — and, yes, some blood! — became part of it.  (Thankfullly, only minor cuts and scrapes… thanks to our early battles with stubborn weeds and buried rocks).

We strained our backs and knees — not to mention every muscle between and beyond — as we planted every tiny seed.

Squash, zucchini, pumpkin, watermelon, carrots, lettuce, cantaloupe, peppers, peas, green beans, sweet corn.  Each one chosen by us.  Thoughtfully.  Deliberately.

We watched and watered and weeded and waited… and even “wooed.”  Surely, these plants know they are loved!   🙂

Now, our “wooing” has turned into WOW-ing!  The harvest is bursting forth!

Isn’t this what You are doing today, Lord, all over the planet?  In “gardens” that yield far more than mere vegetables?

A great harvest Is bursting forth as the growing season reaches its fulfillment!  Each “plant” chosen by You.  Thoughtfully,  Deliberately.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last…”  (John 15:16a)

Your own sweat and blood became part of Your preparation of barren “soil” that would later yield LIFE.

“And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”  (Luke 22:44)

You created every seed and “planted” it deep, each in its own “hallowed ground.”

“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb… all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be…”  (Psalm 139:13,16)

And, just like the vegetables outside my window, You have made every “plant” in every “garden” grow.

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”  (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

What beautiful gifts You have given each one of us, Lord!  The unique creation You have made each of us to be.  The personal — and painstaking — way You have watched us and watered us and weeded us and waited for us… and yes, Lord, how You have so relentlessly “wooed” us.

How could we ever thank You enough, Lord… for Your tender loving care and cultivation?  For the assurance that Your plans for us will not be in vain?

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.'”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

“… the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.”  (Psalm 33:11)

Isn’t that the essence of Your “prophetic gardening,” Lord?  Knowing what You desire to bring forth in (and through) us?  What You will bring forth, as we yield ourselves fully to You so You can have Your way?

“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.”  (Matthew 13:8-9)

The “growing season” is nearing its end, Lord… for each of us individually and for the world.  Help us yield more fully to You, so You can produce the greater yield in us — and through us — that is most precious to You.  Not only the fruits of service… but the fruit of intimacy.

“I come to the garden alone… and He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.  And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”  (“In the Garden,” C. Austin Miles)

[Deep sigh.]

Abba’s Girl