by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. James 5:7-8
I don’t know about you but my green beans come in a can. I’ve never planted a garden and even my air plants died. But my house is sitting on what used to be my grandfather’s garden. He grew corn and green beans and tomatoes. My grandmother canned the food grown in the spring and served it during the winter.
Plowing, sowing, harvesting, and canning, they did a lot of hard work in a short amount of time, but they fed their family for a whole year from their combined efforts.
Gardens require patience.
Gardens require patience and then a lot of hard work. Planting is just half of the battle. The other half is picking, when the crop comes in all at once, and canning so that it lasts. Even though picking and canning is more motion packed into a smaller time frame, these actions also take a measure of patience. This is what my grandmother called ‘stick-to-itiveness’ the work is monotonous but you have to stick to it, picking while the crop is ripe and canning before the crop is over ripe.
With a little patience and a little hard work the crop yields a valuable crop, food for now and food for the winter.
We are God’s farmers.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
We are God’s farmers. We plant the seeds and God is patiently waiting for the harvest. If God were not patient we would all be in trouble. We are thick headed, slow to understand the spiritual nature. We are inclined to sin, walking in our own rebellious ways. If God were not patient, we would be rotten fruit, discarded. We would be withered branches on a healthy vine. The withered branches are pruned out and burned.
God does not want anyone to perish and so He is patient with us sending His workers into the field to plant the seeds, sending rain to water the seeds and waiting patiently for us to grow and produce fruit – fruit with seeds that we plant in our turn.
We may never know.
We may never know what our seeds produce. We cast our seeds along the way of life and some of them land on rocks, some on sandy soil, and some on fertile ground. God cultivates the seeds we plant. He works the soil and sends the rain. We cannot force the seeds to germinate. That is not our part in the process. Our part is simply to plant the seeds, and once the plant begins to grow, to encourage the growth. Many of the seeds that we plant are in places that we may never see again. We may never know if the plants grew or withered away. But God knows and we must trust Him and do our part whether we see the outcome our not.
But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8:15
Patience is long-suffering.
The King James Version of the Bible translates patience as ‘long-suffering’.
God suffers when we disobey him. He hurts when we hurt, and a lot of the hurt we endure is of our own making. We know better than to eat the entire tub of ice cream and we suffer the stomachache when we do. We know better than to go some of the places we go and we know better than to do some of the things that we do. And we suffer because we do things we know we shouldn’t.
Sometimes we suffer for the things that other people do. We want to respond with hurt for hurt. If God responded by hurting us every time we hurt Him we would all be in trouble. But God is long-suffering. He suffers, or ‘puts up with’ our rebellion. He forgives us for our trespasses, when we go where we shouldn’t go, and He forgives us for our bad behavior when we do things that we shouldn’t do.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves, with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:12-13
The Children of God.
As the children of God we want to grow up to be just like Him. We need to look at the things that He does and do them. Have patience with others as He has patience with us. Be long-suffering with others, as He is long-suffering with us. Have mercy on others as He has mercy on us. Forgive others as He forgives us.
God is our Father. Jesus is our role model. We need to cultivate within ourselves the Fruit of the Spirit so that the fruit produces seeds that we can plant in the Garden of God.
This fruit bears many seeds of hope: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
In season and out of season
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:2-3
Whether our seeds fall on rocky ground or fertile soil we must be prepared to sow them wherever we are. We must be prepared for the reactions of those who don’t want them and for those who are desperately seeking them. They are life, without the seeds of salvation many will perish and God doesn’t want to lose even one.
Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, 2 Peter 3:15
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But look at the beauty in God’s Garden
Worth every effort!
Wendy
Gardens require patience and then a lot of hard work. Planting is just half of the battle. The other half is picking, when the crop comes in all at once, and canning so that it lasts. Even though picking and canning is more motion packed into a smaller time frame, these actions also take a measure of patience. This is what my grandmother called ‘stick-to-itiveness’ the work is monotonous but you have to stick to it, picking while the crop is ripe and canning before the crop is over ripe.
With a little patience and a little hard work the crop yields a valuable crop, food for now and food for the winter.
We are God’s farmers.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
We are God’s farmers. We plant the seeds and God is patiently waiting for the harvest. If God were not patient we would all be in trouble. We are thick headed, slow to understand the spiritual nature. We are inclined to sin, walking in our own rebellious ways. If God were not patient, we would be rotten fruit, discarded. We would be withered branches on a healthy vine. The withered branches are pruned out and burned.
God does not want anyone to perish and so He is patient with us sending His workers into the field to plant the seeds, sending rain to water the seeds and waiting patiently for us to grow and produce fruit – fruit with seeds that we plant in our turn.
We may never know.
We may never know what our seeds produce. We cast our seeds along the way of life and some of them land on rocks, some on sandy soil, and some on fertile ground. God cultivates the seeds we plant. He works the soil and sends the rain. We cannot force the seeds to germinate. That is not our part in the process. Our part is simply to plant the seeds, and once the plant begins to grow, to encourage the growth. Many of the seeds that we plant are in places that we may never see again. We may never know if the plants grew or withered away. But God knows and we must trust Him and do our part whether we see the outcome our not.
But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8:15
Patience is long-suffering.
The King James Version of the Bible translates patience as ‘long-suffering’.
God suffers when we disobey him. He hurts when we hurt, and a lot of the hurt we endure is of our own making. We know better than to eat the entire tub of ice cream and we suffer the stomachache when we do. We know better than to go some of the places we go and we know better than to do some of the things that we do. And we suffer because we do things we know we shouldn’t.
Sometimes we suffer for the things that other people do. We want to respond with hurt for hurt. If God responded by hurting us every time we hurt Him we would all be in trouble. But God is long-suffering. He suffers, or ‘puts up with’ our rebellion. He forgives us for our trespasses, when we go where we shouldn’t go, and He forgives us for our bad behavior when we do things that we shouldn’t do.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves, with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:12-13
The Children of God.
As the children of God we want to grow up to be just like Him. We need to look at the things that He does and do them. Have patience with others as He has patience with us. Be long-suffering with others, as He is long-suffering with us. Have mercy on others as He has mercy on us. Forgive others as He forgives us.
God is our Father. Jesus is our role model. We need to cultivate within ourselves the Fruit of the Spirit so that the fruit produces seeds that we can plant in the Garden of God.
This fruit bears many seeds of hope: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
In season and out of season
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:2-3
Whether our seeds fall on rocky ground or fertile soil we must be prepared to sow them wherever we are. We must be prepared for the reactions of those who don’t want them and for those who are desperately seeking them. They are life, without the seeds of salvation many will perish and God doesn’t want to lose even one.
Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, 2 Peter 3:15
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But look at the beauty in God’s Garden
Worth every effort!
Wendy
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