A Gardener's Prayer

Father, conform me to Your garden plan so that I am used to the fullest, with no wasted space, to produce what You want. Your plan is perfect; help me to remember and accept that, even if I don’t understand the details.

Give me all I need to produce the crops You want. Help me to use those things to the fullest, with no waste.

Help me to yield exactly the crop You want, precisely the quality and quantity you are looking for. Help me generate fruit so pleasing that You can't help but smile.

Protect me from anything that would interfere with that result; keep those things away from me, but, if I have or must be exposed to them, cleanse and heal me from their adverse effects.

Give me patience to get through the times when you want me to develop roots, stems and leaves instead of fruit, and during the times I need to lay fallow.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

(Other images addressing the need to conform/yield to God were posted at Images from God on September 12, 18 (part 3), 18 (part 4), 23, October 3 (guitar), 3 (garden soil), November 6, 21, December 8, 12, 15, 2004 and January 10, February 18, May 11, June 18, 27, August 21 and 27, 2005.

Other images dealing with patience/waiting on God were postedat Images from God on October 1, November 21, December 8, 2004 and June 11, 18, and 24, 2005.

Other images about the benefits of eliminating things that distract us from God and His purposes for us were posted at Images from God on September 18, October 3 and 14, November 21 and December 8, 2004 and February 28 and August 3, 2005.)

What We Can Learn About a Fruitful Christian Life From “a tree planted near streams”: Psalm 1:3

“Such a one is like a tree planted near streams; it bears fruit in season…”Psalm 1:3 (New Jerusalem Bible)

We can learn a lot about leading a fruitful Christian life by thinking about the circumstances of the “tree planted near streams” that “bears fruit in season” described in Psalm 1. Three things come to the fore: humility, patience, and the fact that fruitfulness takes real effort.

Humility

First, consider where the tree is—down in the bottoms. That is a low spot, not an exalted place. The sustaining elements God provides through “streams,” water and rich alluvial soil, are only found in abundance in valleys.

So it is with us. God provides his richest blessings to those who do not elevate themselves, but instead humbly go where He is, even if, by worldly standards, that is “beneath them.” See Philippians 2:5-11,Hebrews 12:2, Proverbs 15:33 and 18:12.

Patience

Consider also that a tree does not bear fruit overnight or all the time. It takes years to grow from a seedling, to a sapling, to a mature fruit-bearing tree. And once it reaches maturity, it will not bear fruit all the time, but will instead have times of fruitfulness interspersed with periods of recovery and regeneration.

The same is true of us. We too must mature, both in our natural development and in our relationship with Christ, before we can bear fruit. There’s no rushing it, we just have to wait upon the Lord for Him to get the most out of us. And we have to be patient during the times between crops, recognizing that what we do then prepares us for future fruitfulness. See Matthew 10:22, 24:13; Romans 2:7; Hebrews 10:36; James 1:3; 2 Peter 1:6. See also Genesis 16 and Genesis 21:8-21 

Effort

But that doesn’t mean that we are only passive observers. Instead, fruitfulness requires real effort on our part. That is true in two respects.

First, fruitfulness doesn’t just happen because the tree is provided with water and nutrients. It must absorb those essential ingredients and convert them to leaves, flowers, and fruit. Once fruit forms, the tree must continue to nurture and support it as it grows and ripens until harvesting.

And that’s not the half of it. A tree must go through a lot that’s not directly related, but essential, to producing a crop. It must weather cold winters and hot summers, wind storms and, since it’s planted by a river, the pressure of flood waters once or twice a year.

Christians must likewise put real effort into producing the fruit that God expects from us. We must take what God gives us for His purposes and be sure to do all it takes to turn it into the harvest He seeks. We too must persevere through the difficulties that are an unavoidable part of this life. Although we can’t bear fruit without God’s gracious provision, that provision will go for naught if we don’t do our part. See Proverbs 2:1-5, Sirach 6:18-37, Matthew 25:14-30, Matthew 25:31-46, Ephesians 2:10, James 1:21-25, James 2:14-16. See also Luke 12:16-21. 

(Other images based on water related themes were posted at Images from God on September 12b, October 1, November 6, 7, and 10, 2004. A series of four images dealing with a somewhat related theme (a garden hose) were posted September 18, 2004 here, here, here and here.

Other images about humility were posted at Images from God on October 1 and November 10, 2004.

Other images dealing with patience or waiting on God were posted at Images from God on October 1, November 21, December 8, 2004 and June 11, 18, and 24, 2005.

Other images about diligence/perseverance in doing God’s will were posted at Images from God on October 1, 3a, 8, and 17 and November 7, 2004 and January 10c, June 11, 13, and 18; July 15 and August 27, 2005.)

Digging Through the Dirt

Scripture makes it clear that we must dig through dirt that gets between us and God. Jesus illustrated that with a builder who “dug, and dug deep” to lay the foundation of his house. Luke 6:48 (New Jerusalem Bible). Jeremiah communicated it by describing a tree that “thrusts its roots” through the soil to reach God’s life giving water. Jeremiah 17:8 (New Jerusalem Bible). What can we learn from that?

Different Kinds of Dirt

One thing is that not all dirt is the same. Some is easy to burrow through, like sand or loose topsoil. Other dirt is tightly packed and difficult to remove.We see that pattern in our lives.

Some of the things between us and God are easy to get through. We recognize how they hinder us and, with His help, can remove them without too much difficulty. Sure, it takes some effort, but they’re relatively easy to get out of the way.

Others are more difficult. Like soil compacted by repeated footsteps, we each have settled behavioral patterns that are very difficult to break. These can only be overcome with great help from God and great effort on our part. The good news is that “with God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26.

Not all dirt is “dirty”

Another lesson is that some of the things between us and God are not inherently bad. Just as a person building a house must sometimes remove rich topsoil to put down solid footers, each of us must sometimes get rid of things that are not intrinsically bad, and that can be very beneficial in other believers’ lives, if they interfere with what God wants from us. The point is that we have to look at things in terms of how they serve God’s individual purposes for us, and be willing to remove them if they get in the way, even if they are not objectively bad.

(Other images about eliminating things that distract us from God and His purposes were posted at Images from God on September 18, October 3 and 14, November 21, and December 8, 2004 and February 28 and August 3, 2005.)

More on Making “Good Soil”—Matt. 13:8; Mark 4:8; Luke 8:8

Two other principles are illustrated by the process of improving the soil in my garden, as described in a previous post.

Enrichment Must Come From God

The first is that the soil could not improve without help from beyond itself. It wouldn’t have gotten much better, and in fact would have become worn-out, without the amendments added over the years.

The same is true of us. We can only become more fruitful if God “amends” us by adding the things that we need, but do not ourselves possess. Sure, some of us are blessed (by God) with native talent that allows us to produce impressive results on our own for a season, but we can’t sustain that without God’s active blessing. Instead we, like soil, will inevitably become more depleted and less productive without the Holy Spirit’s infusions.

We Must Act on What God Gives Us

The second is that enrichment could not happen if the original soil did not affirmatively act on the amendments. New organic materials must be broken down into the particular nutrients plants need before they enrich the soil they are added to. That only happens if microbes already in that soil go to work digesting those amendments. Without that the amendments do not become part of the soil; they do no good.

The same dynamic is present in our interactions with God. Although we can’t become truly fruitful without His spiritual “amendments,” those amendments can’t do any good unless we act on them by digesting them, incorporating them into our day to day lives. Otherwise, they are only abstract principles with no practical impact.

(Other images about God’s ability to provide things we need, but can’t provide for ourselves, were posted at Images from God on September 12a and 18c, October 3, November 10, 21 and 27, 2004 and January 2, 10b, and 10c, June 13 and 27, 2005.

Other images about diligence/perseverance in doing God’s will were posted at Images from God on October 1, 3a, 8, and 17 and November 7, 2004 and January 10c, June 11, 13, and 18; July 15 and August 27, 2005.)

Making “Good Soil”: Matt. 13:8; Mark 4:8; Luke 8:8

Several years ago I started a garden and resolved to make the soil as rich as possible. It didn’t happen overnight or through a fixed program, but took years of adding different types of organic materials, known as “amendments” by serious gardeners, to the soil at different times in different ways.

Sometimes that occurred in big steps. One year I tilled in six or eight inches of finely ground leaves. Other years, I added truckloads of raw manure when I put my garden “to bed” in the fall. Some springs I supplemented those autumnal additions with bags and bags of pre-composted manure.

But most amendments were more gradual and less direct. One winter I added a bucket of grounds from a coffee shop each week as I waited for spring. Several years I transplanted earthworms because their excrement adds additional nutrients and improves soil texture. All year every year, I put used tea bags, other kitchen scraps, and yard waste into my compost pile to create rich humus for later addition to the garden.

The combined result was a gradual improvement of the soil—and the garden’s productivity. Although no step yielded instant results, each crop was noticeably better than the one before it and, as time went on, the garden became exponentially more fruitful than it was at the outset.

God works that way to make us into “good soil” producing “crop[s] multiplying thirty, sixty or even a hundred times.” Mark 4:8. Sometimes He adds His goodness in big doses, but mostly He enriches us a little every day, and a little more each Sunday, to give us what we need to produce what he wants. Scripture describes it well: "accumulation little by little is the way to wealth." Proverbs 13:8 (New Jerusalem Bible). Those amendments come in various forms, from unpleasant circumstances that, like manure, really stink but produce tremendous enrichment, to more agreeable things that make different contributions.

Like the process for enriching physical soil, no one thing gets us all the way to where we need to be, but each addition works together with the others to enable us produce more and more over time. And when we look back at where we’ve come from, we're amazed at how much He’s multiplied our fruitfulness.

(Other images about diligence/perseverance in doing God’s will were posted at Images from God on October 1, 3a, 8, and 17 and November 7, 2004 and January 10c, June 11, 13, and 18; July 15 and August 27, 2005.

Other images about the process of growing/maturing in our walk with God were posted at Images from God on October 3a and 17, 2004; June 11 and 18, July 20, August 21 and 27, 2005.

Other images about patience/waiting on God were posted at Images from God on October 1, November 21, December 8, 2004 and June 11, 18, and 24, 2005.)

Unexpected Fruit from Long Dormant Seeds

Seeds can lay dormant for long periods and still germinate into fruitful plants. They get covered up with too much soil and remain inactive, but something brings them to the surface, they sprout and produce, sometimes decades after they fell to the ground.

I recently experienced something that illustrates the same dynamic with God's work. In the mid-1800's an illustrator made etchings of Bible scenes that were collected in a book published after his death. I stumbled upon a copy, but it sat in my basement for months until I showed it to my three year old daughter. The illustration of Jesus raising Jairus' daughter from the dead (Matt. 9:18-19, 23-26; Mark 5:22-24, 35-43; Luke 8:41-42, 49-56) caught her attention and I was able to use it to tell her about Jesus' power and love. That stuck her and now when we look at her children's Bible she wants to go right to the part where "Jesus made that little girl feel better."

That shows how God can produce fruit in ways beyond our understanding. He used a seed sown in the mid-nineteenth century to produce fruit early in the twenty-first century. All that occurred long after the etching was made, the artist was gone, and the world had changed in ways the artist couldn’t have possibly imagined. And that etching only had that effect because of the actions of others he had no control over (the editor and publisher of the posthumous book, its distributors, whoever owned the book before me, and me).

The point is that God is able to use our good works to far more effect than we can possibly imagine—if we use what he gives us in the first place.

(Other images about patience/waiting on God were posted at Images from God on October 1, November 21, December 8, 2004 and June 11, 18, and 24, 2005.

There’s usually more going on than meets the eye

“Accumulation little by little is the way to riches.”

Proverbs 13:11b (New Jerusalem Bible)

A few years ago I decided to maximize my garden’s pepper production and did all I knew to achieve that goal. I amended and tilled the soil in the fall so it would be fertile and loose in the spring. I covered it with black plastic so I wouldn’t be held up by wet, cold, soil or low ambient air temperatures. I was ready to plant as early as possible and did so.

But then it was hurry up and wait. Although I did everything right and had good weather, it seemed for weeks like nothing was happening. The plants didn’t appear to grow, and I had no choice but to wait for things to develop at their own pace.

It turns out that I had no reason for concern. Although they were mostly unobservable, things were happening. Most of my plants’ growth during those early weeks was underground, and hence invisible, because they were developing the root systems necessary to produce peppers later on. At the same time, the organic material added to the soil the previous fall was breaking down into useable nutrients, something that couldn’t happen over the winter. Further, because I was checking my plants so often, I didn’t notice the above ground growth that was occurring, growth that would have been apparent if measured less frequently. There was literally more going on than met the eye, and I ended up with a bumper crop.

Serious disciples usually experience the same dynamic. We want to bear maximum fruit for God, and we try to do what we can to bring it forth. We do what we can to prepare ourselves and optimize our circumstances and continually check for growth, yet things seem to poke along with no, or at least (from our perspective) not enough, progress.

But although we don’t see it, God is preparing for a good crop. He’s helping us grow the spiritual and practical equivalents of roots and arranging things so we’ll have the resources we’ll need for maximum productivity once those roots are grown. Those things usually can’t be seen and we miss the perceptible growth that is occurring because, although it’s significant, it’s mostly too gradual to notice from day to day.

The point is that God moves in His own time and in His own ways, even if we can’t see it. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do all we can to increase our productivity because, although we can’t get ahead of God’s timing, we can impair His plans (for example, my pepper crop would have been smaller without my extra efforts.). But the ultimate truth is that we can never reach our maximum productivity ahead of God’s schedule and without His help.

(Other images about patience/waiting on God were posted at Images from God on November 21, December 8, 2004 and June 11, 18, and 24, 2005.

Other images about the process of growing/maturing in our walk with God were posted at Images from God on October 3a and 17, 2004; May 11, June 11 and 18; July 20, August 21 and 27; and October 3 2005.)

Becoming Good Soil in God's Garden: The Process of Becoming Fruitful

The process God uses to make a fruitful Christian is a lot like the process for making a fruitful garden. Both involve significant change and both take time.

Making a fruitful garden

There are a number of separate steps involved in creating a fruitful garden.

First, the gardener dedicates the space to that purpose, moving what is there to make room. This can be big project it its own right, depending on how the space was used, but it must be done because crops can’t grow with something else in the way.

Then the gardener must work the soil, turning it over and breaking it down a workable texture. This can be a very difficult process, depending on how thick the existing vegetation was and how compacted the soil had become, but there is no getting around this step either.

After that, he must remove things in the soil that will hinder the crop’s ability to put down roots, things like rocks and other junk buried over the years. They’re invisible until the soil has been turned and tilled, but they must be removed if the garden is to reach full potential.

Once that’s done, the gardener must add things for the soil to produce at the desired level. This can be all manner of things, from compost, to various kinds of fertilizers, to manure, depending on the state of the soil and what the gardener wants to grow. Soil rarely can produce as expected without these amendments.

Then time must pass. An experienced gardener prepares his ground in the fall, allowing time for the amendments to add their benefits into the soil as the long winter months creep by. Once spring arrives, soil and air temperatures must reach the right levels before seeds can be planted with any prospects for success. And after that, it takes time for the seeds to germinate, and even more time for the plants to mature to fruit bearing.

Making a Fruitful Christian

God usually puts us through the same steps.

First, he takes action to dedicate us to the tasks He has in mind, which almost always requires that other things be cleared away. Those things may be relatively minor, or they may take a lot of time and effort to get rid of, but either way they have to go make room for God’s purposes.

Then He starts to dig into our lives, breaking up our thought and behavior patterns, tilling us into the right texture to receive the things necessary for a good crop, and removing the subtle, but harmful, things that hinder growth. This definitely isn’t easy, but we can’t produce to God’s level if we remain compacted or have rocks where roots must grow.

After He has done that, God adds the things we lack, but need, to produce what He’s looking for. Sometimes that’s pleasant, like the rich humus of His word, good teaching, and Christian fellowship. But sometimes—in fact most times—we also need the spiritual equivalent of manure. What ever they are, we can be sure we’re better off with than without them, no matter how unpleasant they might seem at first.

And as with a garden, it takes time for things develop into fruitfulness. That can’t be rushed, but can only happen when conditions are right. Fortunately, He always knows when that is, and it’s always worth the wait.

(Other images addressing the need to conform/yield to God were posted at Images from God on September 12, 18 (part 3), 18 (part 4), 23, October 3 (guitar), 3 (garden soil), November 6, 21, December 8, 12, 15, 2004 and January 10, February 18, May 11, June 18, 27, August 21 and 27, 2005.

Other images dealing with patience or waiting on God were posted at Images from God on October 1, November 21, December 8, 2004 and June 11, 18, and 24, 2005.

Other images about the benefits of eliminating things that distract us from God and His purposes for us were posted at Images from God on September 18, October 3 and 14, November 21 and December 8, 2004 and February 28 and August 3, 2005.

Other images about God’s ability to provide things we need, but can’t provide for ourselves, were posted at Images from God on September 12 and 18, October 3, November 10, 21 and 27, 2004 and January 2, 10, and 10.1, June 13 and 27, 2005.)

Luke 8:4-8, 11-15: A Prayer for Good Soil

Lord, make me into good soil.

Break the compacted soil of my soul; transform its hardened clumps into pliable loam. Remove the rocks that hinder your word from taking root in me—the areas of hardness in my heart—and replace them with the compost of your Holy Spirit. And add plenty of it because I can’t bear fruit worthy of you without that rich, sweet, humus.

Give me a good basic dressing from your scripture. Moisten me with your living water, warm me to just the right temperature, and adjust my spiritual Ph to strike the perfect balance between discipline and grace so I can best germinate the seeds you plant in me.

Once those seeds are planted don’t let me get dry, depleted, too hot, or too cold. Irrigate me daily with prayer and time in your word. Side dress me at least weekly with the gathering of your saints and continually cover me with the mulch of your presence.

Lord, keep me weeded, no matter what it takes. Pull those wasteful things out of my life so your good blessings—your humus, nutrients, and moisture—are used for your purposes. Do it quickly before their roots get deep and keep me weeded so I can yield the best possible crop. Most of all, help me to use these things to bear fruit that pleases you.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

(Other images addressing the need to conform/yield to God were posted at Images from God on September 12, 18 (part 3), 18 (part 4), 23, October 3 (guitar), 3 (garden soil), November 6, 21, December 8, 12, 15, 2004 and January 10, February 18, May 11, June 18, 27, August 21 and 27, 2005.

Images dealing with the importance of exercising the spiritual disciplines were posted at Images from God on September 12, 18, and 18.1, and October 3, 2004 and January 10 and August 27, 2005.)