When I was a kid, we had a small vegetable garden in the backyard. The plant we could always count on to be a prolific producer was the zucchini. It would grow until it was almost a bush, and produce dozens, hundreds, millions of zucchini. It seemed there was always one hidden under a leaf that leaped to baseball bat proportions overnight. I would put them in paper bags and bring them to the neighbors. (Full disclosure: I would put them on the neighbors’ front porch, ring the doorbell, and run away so they couldn’t refuse. I assumed they didn’t like zucchini any more than I did.)
Have you ever seen a zucchini seed? It doesn’t look like much. It’s definitely not enough to fill the stomach, let alone satisfy the spirit. But there’s so much more to it than meets the eye. The gardener planting peaches doesn’t see the pit. The pit looks dead and barren. It would be tough to chew and impossible to swallow.
Instead, the gardener looks at the pit and sees the fruit. She places the pit in the ground dreaming of peach cobbler and golden summer. Because she knows that hidden inside the pit is the seed of something greater.
Sometimes we look around and feel like all we have is a bunch of dry dirt and a handful of pits. We know this isn’t enough for a hungry soul. How can this barren land be what we were promised? We lose sight of the hope that dirt, those seeds contain; of the glory that’s within them.
Have you been there? Are you there now? The Old Testament prophet Haggai had a message from God for people in just that situation. “I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you” (2:19).
The seed is still in the packets. It hasn’t even been planted yet. It looks like all you have is a big pile of dirt and rubble. There’s nothing to indicate that things are going well. There’s no reasonable expectation of blessing. But God gives you His word that in spite of all that, you can count on, rely on, trust in Him. There will be a harvest. Glory is coming.
Gardening is training in hope. Something dusty, dry and small undergoes a remarkable transformation that takes place entirely hidden from view. Seeds do their mysterious work buried in the dark. The gardener must wait, and watch, and keep faithfully tending and watering the soil with an expectation of something better to come.
Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12
God can and will transform our wasteland into a land of plentiful abundance. But instead of teleporting us to Eden, He invites us to partner with Him in that transformation. We work steadily alongside Him, in blistering sun or stormy gale, and we gain ownership of the harvest. We truly take possession of the land. The crop of glory becomes ours.
Those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. Galatians 6:8-9