Momentum For Monday, March 21st 2022
“Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon…” (Ecc 11:6)
If I must be completely honest, I do not have a green thumb. I'm not a plant person per se. I love the outdoors, but I'm not one to garden at this point in life (at least not yet anyways). However, I fully intend on trying to grow some mint, parsley, and dill this spring. And as insignificant as that may seem, I'm actually looking forward to it
Because I know absolutely nothing about this stuff, I had to be told when a good time to plant them would be. Someone advised that around here (St. Louis area), waiting until after tax day is usually a good tip because any potential dips in the weather should be over by then. So, I have a little less than a month to get my stuff together.
There's a lot of strategy in this planting stuff ya know? To know when and how and why you need to do certain things is a lot more than I anticipated. When do you plant seeds? What kind of mint? What kind of parsley? In what? How much sunlight? Little or lots of water? And bear in mind, I'm just growing my little herbs.
On top of it all, there's the waiting. I mean, we all get that we can't just throw seeds in some soil and then render the harvest in the same day. But even in the waiting there is the responsibility of monitoring, weeding, and watering. Please tell me you know where I'm going with this…
I feel like I've spent an absurd amount of time in my life waiting. For a long time I felt like I was waiting on God (and some times I am if it's a response to prayer and what not), but I learned that my waiting has more to do my reaction and behavior over God's. I cannot neglect responsibility in the season of waiting.
Don't get me wrong, I want to neglect responsibility. I want to take a break from doing the right things and staying diligent or faithful. Sometimes I just want to be lazy. The longer the wait, the more apt restlessness and hopelessness seems to occur. It can seem cruel or even torturous at times. But I think this happens when the end result, whatever I'm praying/hoping for, becomes amplified over God though.
I don't know if you can resonate with a season of waiting right now, but you will. They will always come about. Just remember, don't neglect responsibility while you do wait. Guard your heart to stay vigilant until you see your harvest.
“My work was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos’ work was to water it, but it was God, not we, who made the garden grow in your hearts.”
(1 Corinthians 3:6)