Without us knowing, it begins to push through its outer shell and take root. The tiny bud pushes its way through the wet earth in order to make a home for itself in the ground. Before you know it, there is what looks like green hair sprouting to reveal its growth. We all watch in amazement and wonder. We know not where this growth comes from other than the simple biology that we have studied to understand this magnificent world. The baby plant stretches its way toward the light that warms its tiny frame. However, upon our amazement we begin to realize that this sprout, this tiny growth, is becoming something more than we could have ever imagined; bringing about beauty and wild color that requires us to stop and soak up its grandeur through our human 5 senses…
Two summers ago I was a given a large planter from a close friend. I have always been astounded and yet intrigued by the idea of farming, planting, and harvesting. I don’t think I could live the lifestyle of a farmer, simply because of the work it would require, but the idea of growing something that yields fruits is quite amazing. I planted a few sweet pea seeds inside some dirt I found in my front yard, watered them, and stuck them on my front porch and waited. Every day I went out and moved them so that they would have direct sunlight. I would water them faithfully. Often times I would even pray over them… hoping that I would see growth from these tiny, itty, bitty seeds. It was 3 weeks when I first saw the tiny green sprout push its way through the dirt. One tiny little green leaf. That’s it. I cherished that tiny leaf. I wouldn’t let anything come against it. No bug, no storm with its turbulent winds, no drought, no scorching heat…nothing! I would sit for a long while reading my Bible on my porch and watching that tiny little sprout blow in the breeze. Whimsical as it was, I was mesmerized by it. Before I knew it there was a whole slew of these tiny green sprouts blowing in the breeze. They began to creep down the side of the planter by late August. I couldn’t have been more excited!
Now imagine that same excitement, zeal, passion, and love for this crazy sweet pea plant is projected onto actual human beings. People in the body of Christ that you love with tenderness and joy! It amazes me how humans can be the same way. God places people in our lives to water our proverbial seeds in life. Some come along and harvest what has been done over time by others. However, God brings the growth… “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). There are such mysteries in the growth. Whether that is the growth that is in us, or the growth that is in others because of the watering or planting that has been done. We are FELLOW workers WITH CHRIST!!! I have experienced this firsthand in my work with our college girls… I love people farming. The same excitement I got when I saw those little sweat peas blooming was the same excitement that I saw in the growth of my sweet college girls. I also felt the same protection with the sweet peas that I feel with the college girls. Praying that nothing snatches the seeds that have been planted and watered. God is faithful where the wild things grow…
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