God Speaks Through Nature
I love that God uses anything, anywhere and anytime to speak to us. When He speaks,He teaches and inspires. Last spring I decided it was time to get my garden ready for planting. It was time to clear out all the fall vegetables and I had some carrots that were ready to harvest. In years past I had planted various varieties of carrots, but never got those long sweet carrots I had hoped for. At last these carrots showed promise.
Ready to harvest delicious carrots that would be on my dinner table, I found a really fat one and gave it a tug. That carrot did not budge. I decided to try a smaller one. I tugged and pulled and as I did, the greens ripped off in my hand. I thought, “My, these carrots must be really long and beautiful – the best carrots I have ever grown.” I tried another carrot and with some effort, out it came – at least most of it. I held in my hand half a carrot – the bottom half still buried in the ground.
I tried another and it would not budge so I got a shovel and drove it down into the ground near the row of carrots to try to loosen the soil. As I did, I heard a “crunch.” Oops, that was one of my lovely carrots I just cut into. Frustrated, I decided to leave the carrots for a while and clean up the weeds. The weeds were everywhere – almost like a beautiful green blanket that covered the ground! As I gathered one of the big weeds I realized that although it covered a large area, it grew from a single tiny root. The root was so shallow I hardly noticed when it came out of the ground. I was able to quickly clear out the weeds, then, back to those stubborn carrots.
I worked and worked, pulling, digging, coaxing those carrots, trying to get them to yield and come out of the ground. As I did, God spoke this truth to me. Those carrots are like us at times. We become planted in a church or a group and our roots grow deep. We are mature and knowledgeable, but we are happy and satisfied to stay where we are, fed and comfortable. Getting us to follow that nudge of the Holy Spirit to reach out and share God’s message of salvation is sometimes uncomfortable and even a bit scary. Yet the enemy is like those weeds. His shallow counterfeit version of peace and joy, spreads out everywhere filling people with emptiness while we have the “good news” that can change their lives.
So I had to ask myself, “Am I like one of those carrots?” Oh, there were several versions. They were all firmly anchored in the ground, but when they finally came out, some had long deep roots, letting loose of the soil willingly and ready to fulfill their purpose on my dinner table.
Some were plump and stubby, having grown wide, but not so deep.
Others seemed to refuse to come out of the ground and were nearly useless, their bottoms still buried in the soil.
Some were so attached to others they couldn’t be separated.
And some just crossed their legs and refused to come out of the ground.
In order to fulfill their purpose, those carrots had to yield to the ground. God showed me as I harvested those carrots that I must be willing to get out of my comfort zone. I must not become a “hoarder” of the Good News but must yield myself to the Holy Spirit and obey the command to share the Gospel with those who are lost. When we sow the seeds of the Gospel we can trust God to speak the truth to the hearts of those who hear. As the scripture states in 1 Corinthians 3:5-6, some sow the seeds of truth, others water, but God gives the increase. God’s Word in 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 gives both the message and the challenge:
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
God spoke to me as I tended my garden. He speaks through nature. Listen and you are sure to hear Him.
Love this illustration, thank you for sharing! A Friend of mine on facebook, shared your devotion, if I may use this expression, Devotion. Sincerely Kim H.
Great illustration on how we get too comfortable. Sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zone.