Before and After, that’s the gospel.

Have you ever had a garden like the one above? Either the before or the after. If your mind went to the before maybe that’s a bit depressing, and if the after it might bring you some joy. Our back garden was non-existent bar some moss back in February/March, Leonard and Penny our rabbits had to really grovel and forage for anything to eat. That was before the seeds had been sewn and fresh topsoil was piled atop the ground. This was the bleak picture we looked out upon day after day, hoping that soon grass would grow, I’m sure the rabbits felt the same too!

Throughout March-May seeds were sewn, along with topsoil and plenty of water. It made a muddy, jumbled mess, the rabbits would try and eat the seeds since there wasn’t much else to nibble. I faithfully watered the seeds, even mixed in some healthy grow solution which probably tasted like sweets to the seeds. The trouble was that the grass still didn’t grow much, hardly at all to be honest. Was it the seeds? Was it the soil? Or was it us in the way, trodding on the garden and of course Leonard and Penny who daily consumed as much as possible?

We finished the planting right before a three week trip to the United States which was late May till early June. The rabbits stayed at a small animals shelter so there was nobody on the garden for three weeks. Just the sun, rain, seeds and soil. Turns out that’s all it needed, the sun, rain, seeds and soil. The billowing waves of green we saw out the window were shocking, the blades rising tall while firmly rooted below were impressive. This was our back garden, the same pointless mess you see on the right-hand side of picture, now a veritable feast for Leonard and Penny.

Throughout the Bible we read about seeds being sewn, and Jesus famously spoke too about soil and seeds. Maybe it was the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:7 who put it clearest,

‘So neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.’

Jesus said that the seeds which fell on good, ready soil would grow, the seeds on the path would be stolen by birds, the thorns would swallow up other seeds and rocky soil might be ok for a while but there wouldn’t be strong enough roots to really grow. Paul then taught that it’s not about the farmer at all or his actions, it’s only God that makes things grow.

Isn’t that the gospel? Believers can plant seeds, can share the good news of Jesus, can retell stories of lives changing (and there are some great ones in LifeSpring in the last few months!), but can’t force anyone to believe it, or accept for themselves. Only God can do that, we can work with it but not cause them to grow and yield a harvest.

Maybe even sometimes the best way to see growth is to get out of the way, to trust the seed and even more trust the Lord who causes them to flourish. Do we stunt growth by trying to do too much? Do we overwater and drown the seeds when they need some space? We sure saw when we got out of the way of our own garden that the seeds grew into a now lush lawn of grass, one that even the rabbits can’t keep up with alone.