Sowing on Kingdom Ground

Garden Chronicle #1: “Our Lot in Life”

Living in the parsonage across the street from the church my husband pastors is a blessing, but any type of around-the-house project leaves me at the mercy of several other factors. In other words, I don’t always have the liberty of the average homeowner. For instance, I came up with this garden idea. I’m swelled with pride. I’m pumped to live off the land, enjoy the fruits of my labor, survive off the sweat of my brow—all those delicious pieces of self-sufficiency—when Shawn gives me the rottenest piece of land on the whole property to plant because he intends to use the rest for church plans.
A couple of years ago in an effort to level out the back lot, a kind donor brought dump trucks full of the remains of a wrecked building and coated it with a layer of dirt. It’s level now, yes, but it is no place for roots to grow. There are whole bald spots where only concrete shows if that tells you anything, so you can imagine my dismay when the good pastor assigned me the wasteland for my dream project. I could not believe the patch of ground I was given. Bricks, wires, broken glass—it’s untelling what all is under there for me to unearth and try to encourage life out of.
Looking back at my discouragement, I thought about how we get so worn down with our lot in life. We look at it, find unfairness in it, and lose hope as we question whether anything good could ever come from our circumstances, our waste or wreck of a life. It may even be a situation that has recently come upon us. We find ourselves asking God why He allowed something to happen or why we’re in the place we are in. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (New King James Version) we are encouraged to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit.”
Okay. I can go with that. I suppose I can understand that through my complaining, I’m quenching the spirit. I can see how I may become so focused on the negative and the impossibilities that I could miss the blessing of the possibilities. God has begun something in me. I did not intend for him to speak to me about circumstances, or honestly at all in this garden. I got out here thinking how wondrous His creation is, and how neat life is, that a tiny seed could burst forth life from this dirty dirt. He has something for me here. He can grow something spectacular out of this old ground if I’ll accept it, if I’ll stop looking at its hopelessness and the urge to throw in the shovel.
We see this on many different levels so often in ministry. From the “why did this happen to me?” to the hopeless eyes behind prison bars to even the worn out pastors who begin to question their call. We live in a fallen world where life is tough. It’s easy to fall into the trap that makes us doubt a loving God is in control. Whatever we face, whatever we go through, we must remember that God’s purpose for us is grand, and if we will ask Him, he’ll reach down to the depths of the darkest, thickest mire, pull us out, and get us back on track. He adores us and has a purpose for us. It is not His intention to hinder us from this but to turn those roadblocks into something we can use later, often to help someone else. He does not promise bad things won’t happen, but He does promise He will help us through it and turn it into something beautiful. But we have to let Him…

What about you? Do you question God about the circumstances in your life? Why this or that happened? Why you were dealt such a seemingly hopeless lot in life? Why someone was placed in your life? Do you look at the 1 Thessalonians verse and want to lash out at God? Is there something you’ve given up on or something that you can’t get over that stands as a barrier between you and the beautiful thing He has for you? What if you began to see this “patch of wasteland” as an opportunity, a challenge, a miracle He’s going to work (through you, if you’ll let Him)?