I like garlic. I like it a lot. I routinely use at least twice as much as recipes call for. So I go through a lot of garlic.
I also like gardening. What I didn’t know is that garlic is really easy to grow. All you have to do is stick a garlic clove in the ground and it will turn into a whole new bulb with many cloves.
But gardening is a risk. There is a lot of faith involved. It almost feels like magical thinking. “Really? I’m going to stick this tiny seed in the dirt, and a plant will magically appear that magically produces a bunch of tomatoes (or peppers or cucumbers or zucchinis). Do I need to wave a magic wand?” I remember being overjoyed as a child when the first seeds I planted began to sprout. It was real!
Planting garlic is even more of a risk because I have to put something valuable in the dirt. Not just some useless little seed. I actually have to ruin a perfectly good clove of garlic. Just stick it in the dirt. But I went ahead and stuck my precious garlic in the dirt because I had learned to trust gardening.
According to today’s verse, God says that giving is a lot like gardening. To enjoy its rewards, I have to trust God with something valuable. I have to give away my perfectly good, hard-earned money. And then wait to see what happens. God promises a harvest.
I always harvested more garlic than I could use when I planted garlic. The more I planted, the more I got. It’s the same with giving. The more I give away, the more I will be blessed in return. Do I trust God as much as I trust gardening?
Dear God,
Thank you for the example of gardening. You have shown me how to trust you through the process of planting. Little sprouts poking up through the dirt never cease to amaze me. It’s a beautiful design you created. Continue to remind me how trustworthy you are with things besides seeds. Give me courage to trust your promises with all the things I consider valuable.
CamDevo 