More than Clover

The air is icy; it nips at my skin. The overhead clouds are keeping the moisture close by. It was warm last week, and the clover has grown, excited by the prospect of spring. But today it still feels like winter.

The calendar tells me it is time to till the garden.

The tiller shakes in my hands when I start it. I grip it tightly to maintain control and keep it running; and I stare at the hard ground.

Does the ground welcome this? Does this patch of yard sense that I have chosen it for a greater purpose, for growing more than clover?

The rest of the yard, most of the yard, grows clover. This patch of ground is for growing fruit.

Since they don’t do well in hot weather, the sweet peas must be ready to produce their fruit in May. So the seeds need to be sown soon, which means now is the time to till the garden.

The tiller blade cuts into the ground. As the blades rotate, the sharp blades rip out the clover roots and expose dark dirt. I can smell the nutrient rich soil and see the earthworms running for cover. It is a violent act.

But what a promise it holds! A fresh start, a new beginning, out with the old and in with the new. It’s almost like repentance and forgiveness.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! All of this is from God. 2 Corinthians 4:127

Rarely do I feel grateful for the tilling process, although Paul encourages us to give thanks in all situations (I Thess. 5:16).

But as a gardener, I know that this churning, this disruption of the status quo, this perhaps violent act is necessary in order to have the desired fruit, in order to grow more than clover.

And we are in the hands of a Master Gardener, my friend.

Even if He allows someone else to till the garden for Him, he is still preparing that space for better things.

Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as He is doing today. So have no fear. Exodus 50:20

I wonder if the garden is concerned with who is doing the tilling?

I am usually very concerned with who is churning up my life.

Will I fight God’s effort to till my life, as the hard ground sometimes fights my efforts? Do I accept that God may have set me apart for growing fruit? Is it arrogant to think that God wants to use me for growing more than clover, as the rest of the yard does?

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; it is you the Lord has chosen out of all the people on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Deuteronomy 14:2

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. I Peter2:9

I believe God calls us out of this world (John 15:19), transforms us by renewing our minds (Romans 12:2), and enables us to produce good fruit (Galatians 5:22). Will I welcome His tilling of my life? Will I thank Him for exposing the dark underbelly of my emotions to His light?

God knows what needs to grow, when seeds need sowing, and when my life needs tilling.

But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they shall soon be home. See now, I am for you; I will turn to you, and you will be tilled and sown. Ezekiel 36:8-9

What a blessing that God has chosen us to bear His fruit. I trust He will do whatever it takes to prepare me to grow more than clover, so that I can yield fruit for His people.

Betsy