A Time for Everything

It is time to dig up my garden; time to call it done. It is time to let the ground rest. The plants have died; there will be no more fruit this year.

The garden was a bust this year – the snow peas failed, and the squirrels ate all my green tomatoes. I harvested some cucumbers and peppers, but not very many. Sometimes life is like that. We put in the effort, but seem to reap little or no reward.

I have faith that God is in even these times, maybe especially in these times. Maybe the reward of this year’s garden was the survival of a wild animal. Maybe the seeds from that stolen fruit will produce volunteer tomatoes in the woods beyond my creeks, nourishing animals for years to come. Perhaps the fruit it produced was these musings, these lessons.

But the summer and this garden have come to its end.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

There is a sadness to ending the garden for the year: no more fresh growth; no new blossoms; no need for me to walk the garden daily. Where did the summer go? But there is a relief as well: no more weeding; no frustration with failure; no constant demands for attention. Are you ready for some football? There’s an excitement for what Autumn promises: Bible studies are getting back together; my daughter’s expecting twins; I need to prepare for family gatherings and holidays. Such excitement on the horizon!

A time for everything.

Now is the time to let the ground rest, lie fallow. Rest is a vital part of the growing season, allowing the soil to rejuvenate. The ground, like you and me, needs rest, sleep, vacation, Sabbath.

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work. Exodus 20:8-10

Perhaps this blog needs to take a rest as well, but not quite yet. I have a few more thoughts I would like to share over the next weeks, not all of which are garden related. If you have subscribed to this blog or are a follower, WordPress will notify you of my posts. If you are getting these posts through an email from me, please let me know if you would like to continue receiving it, because I will no longer send out unsolicited emails.

As for future gardens and plans, I am trying to stay open to the Spirit’s guidance. God willing, I will have a garden next year; God willing, there will be something to harvest. But for now, I am pulling up the dead plants, taking down the fence, and letting the grass grow.

This season is over. I look forward to what God holds in store for me during the next one.

Betsy

All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. John 1:3-4

Giving Thanks

I can remember our dining room table covered with tomatoes. Nick said it made him feel wealthy. We were so grateful for God’s abundance.

This year, my garden has blessed some squirrels with a wealth of tomatoes.

The heat has been too much for my exuberant cucumbers, and the vines are dying.

I have not given up hope. I still water and tend; there are still blossoms. I have reinforced the fence and netting. There’s still a chance.

Any harvest fills me with gratitude. What an amazing gift – food from the earth. We are so accustomed to it that the wonder has dulled. God gives us what we need to survive. He always has. Not the government, not business ventures – the earth. God’s creation feeds God’s creatures.

God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. Genesis 1:29

This year, in a time of drought and heat, God has been feeding His wild animals through my garden. That is OK. They cannot go to the grocery store or the farmer’s market to purchase what they need. I am grateful that I can.

I am grateful that I have a yard. I am grateful that there are wild animals living among us, although sometimes the bunnies and squirrels behave more like pets. I am grateful for water to quench my thirst, trees to provide shade, and a home with air conditioning to keep me cool.  

There is so much to be thankful for! So many of God’s gifts to us have become “given” that we fail to stop and give thanks for them. The sun, the warmth, the rain, the cool breeze, water. Trees, flowers, grass, seed bearing fruit.

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth. Psalm 104:14

Too often I focus so much on what I want to do, and my failure to complete it, that I miss what God is accomplishing. I miss the opportunity to give God thanks for what He has provided, what He is doing in my life.

The Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:17-18

So today, I am giving thanks for my peppers. I am choosing not to dwell on my lack of ripe tomatoes. I am grateful for the cucumbers I harvested last month. I have decided to be grateful that my ripening tomatoes may have helped some desperate animal. I have plenty, and I have the ability to get more. I may still be able to harvest some tomatoes this year. But even if I don’t harvest anything more, I still choose to be grateful. Grateful to God for all that He has provided me. Grateful to God that He cares for me and the squirrels.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you.  I Thessalonians 5:18

A friend of mine has a sign in her kitchen which reads: What if you woke up tomorrow with only those things for which you were grateful today? Would we not spend the entire day listing all the things for which we are grateful? Will I spend at least part of my day today thanking God, being grateful for His gifts? Will you?

Don’t you think He would like at least one of us to “return and give praise to God?”

Thank You, Lord, for these peppers. Thank You for teaching me through the garden. Thank You for letting me have a garden. Thank You for gardens everywhere – your constant provision for us. You are a good and gracious God.

And thank you, friends, for reading this. Thank you for your encouragement.

Betsy

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness. John 8:12

Bad Fruit

When you buy starter plants, they are in trays, which are labeled at the end. The suppliers mark each plant are individually, but I don’t always look at the individual labels. A recipe for disaster.

One year, we planted small sweet peppers. We had found a recipe for stuffing them with cheese and were eager to make a bunch. We bought two plants. But as they grew, one looked a little off; slightly different shaped leaves, a darker hue, thinner peppers. Nick reasoned that he should try one before we stuffed them.

I still don’t know what they were – ghost peppers, perhaps? Mouth on fire, tears streaming down his red face, stuffing bread into his mouth, Nick washed his face and hands and arms, repeatedly.

With gloves, we packed all the harvested peppers in a ziplock bag, dug up the plant and gave it all to a friend who liked hot peppers.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? … Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruit. Matthew 7:15-20

Our inattention had led us to plant something we didn’t want in our garden. It needed to go – immediately and totally. Since this was a matter of taste, we could give it to a friend. If they had been poisonous, we would have thrown them all away.

Sometimes, our inattention allows bad fruit to grow in our lives. Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell the false prophets from the real ones. Often the plants can look very similar, but the fruit is very different.

While Jesus commands us to “judge not,” to be loving and forgiving, to understand that all sin is equal and your sin is no worse than mine, to know that all have sinned and God is willing to forgive all sin, Jesus also calls us to be discerning about who we listen to, who we follow and what we plant in our spiritual gardens. It’s not always clear. Sometimes our inattention leads us astray; sometimes there is deception at work.

So, once the “bad fruit” becomes obvious, dig up that plant, cut down that tree, and get it out of your garden.

And sometimes, this issue is not “bad fruit,” but no fruit at all.

We tried to grow blueberries for three years without success. We researched varieties and growing recommendations. We enhanced the soil and protected the plants. 6 blueberries in 3 years. Finally, it was time to dedicate that garden space to something else.

Like the man in Jesus’s parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9), “For three years I have come looking for fruit on this tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it waste the soil?”  We cut our blueberry bushes down. In the parable, the gardener (presumably Jesus) is more patient and kind and convinces the man to give the fig tree more time, promising additional love and care.

What a gift, what a blessing, what a warning.

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  2 Peter 3:9-10

Right now, my Victory Garden is growing well. The plants are producing, and the fruit is good. But it is not a time to rest. Every day I must water; every day I must encourage growth, every day I must harvest what is ripe. I need to be vigilant for the appearance of bad fruit and concerned when no good fruit appears.

How is your garden growing?

Thank you for sharing your time with me and sharing these thoughts with others. I hope that I have involved you in this story, and would love to hear your thoughts.

Betsy

Do whatever He tells you. John 2:5

Pick the Fruit

The cucumbers are ripe and the peppers have turned red.

I need to go out and pick, today.

Tomorrow, there will be more to pick. Because I planted indeterminate plants, this is happening over a period of weeks instead of all at the same time. As I pick, more ripen.

In fact, if I do not pick the ripe fruit, I delay the production of more fruit. Perhaps the plant only has so much energy to share, and it goes to the ripe fruit before it goes to the emerging fruit. In this sense, picking the fruit is a sort of pruning that allows for more resources to be sent to emerging fruit.

Pruning is the act of cutting back the unproductive parts of the plant so that the more productive parts can flourish. Much less important in backyard gardens than in a vineyard, pruning dead branches and “dead-heading” flowers can still improve any crop. Perhaps picking the fruit accomplishes the same goal.

Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit. John15:2

Nick liked to think that it made the plant happy to know that we desired its fruit; that us picking the fruit encouraged the plant to produce more. And I want happy, fruit-producing plants.

After all, everyone likes to feel appreciated. We all want at least one other person to appreciate what we are producing, what we are putting out into the world, what we are gifting to the cosmos. And when others seem to appreciate our efforts, we are more likely to continue them.

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

Another reason to pick the fruit is because the fruit I grow in my garden, like the fruit the Spirit grows in my life, has a purpose. And its purpose is not to just to sit and rot on the vine.

We may not know the purpose of what is growing in our lives. Like the tomato I give away, I may never know its end use.

But one thing I know. Every fruit has a purpose beyond its own existence.

Fruit propagates more plants and benefits every creature that partakes of it. That beautiful tomato does not exist to make the plant look pretty. And God does not give us joy and peace so that we can be joyful and peaceful in our home by ourselves.

God gives us His fruit to further His kingdom and benefit every creature on this earth. What a waste it would be to let it rot on the vine, to deny that fruit its larger purpose.

“I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, have what is yours.” But his master replied, “you wicked and lazy slave!” Matthew 25:25-26

So I am headed out to the garden to pick a cucumber or two, maybe even a pepper. Maybe I’ll have them on a salad or as a sandwich. They will provide me with vital nutrients to support me for another day. They will allow me to put off a grocery run for a while. I may even share them with you.

And I will thank God for growing them in my garden. I thank Him for my yard, the sun, the rain, the fruit itself, and the ability to pick it, eat it and share it.

I also thank Him for you, dear friends, who have encouraged me and continue to do so. I hope my experiences in the Victory Garden have encouraged you. You, too, have fruit to share.

Betsy

It is the Lord that goes before you. He will be with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8

Second Chances

Sometimes gardening is ugly. I wish it weren’t. I wish I could just plant the seeds, tend the garden and have abundant fruit. In my memories, Nick and I have many years our gardens grew like that; but I could be choosing to remember the success and not the struggle.

It seems every garden since he passed away has been a struggle for me. This year has been no exception; a situation made even worse by my decision to share it all with anyone who would read along.

Failed crops, heat and drought, squirrels. Inertia, fear, doubt. Sometimes I dread going out to the garden for fear of what I may find.

Today I found yellow blossoms and tiny green tomatoes. Hope. God has not finished with me or my garden just yet.

These blossoms, these green tomatoes, they are a second chance for my garden, a second chance for me.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way and sin no more.” John 8:11

“Second” chance might be a little self-righteous on my part. Three hundred and eightieth chance? So many chances, so many failures requiring additional chances, that perhaps I have become complacent. And yet, I want that fruit. The Holy Spirit within me wants to express Himself to the world; He wants me to bear that fruit as well.

And there are new blossoms and new green tomatoes. He is giving me new opportunities. I treasure these new tomatoes, even more than the ones that come six weeks ago. I fuss over them and baby them; check the bird netting, pull the weeds, talk to them.

I know it is God who is growing them. My gardening skills have proven quite inadequate. This is God’s gift to me – a second chance to have tomatoes.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 8:9

And it is only the failures, the thefts of fruit, that teach me how insufficient my own abilities are to produce beautiful fruit. How hard I work at it sometimes. Volunteer here, give there, write notes, send flowers, bring food – all good fruit; but if I am forcing these activities for appearance’s sake or other’s approval, these activities can be exhausting. I do not have the energy sufficient to continue in them, nor do they result in the garden I want to grow. I have to step back and let God grow these tomatoes.

It’s a hard lesson, learning to trust not in my own abilities and lean not on my own understanding. It feels rather unpatriotic. But God doesn’t want us trusting, relying on, or looking for help from anyone or anything but Himself. Not our government, not our IRA, not our allies, not even ourselves. These things are all good (or can be); and God provides structure and resources to enable us to further His kingdom, just as I provide structure and resources to enable my garden to grow.

But only God can grow a tomato. Only God is worthy of trust.

Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we will depend on the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7

And God is so gracious and patient with us, giving us second chances many times over. Seventy times seven, probably more.

Maybe that is why I do not remember the struggles of past gardens. Maybe I will not remember the failures in this one. Because there are beautiful blossoms on the plants, and little green tomatoes which fill me with hope and joy.

God has not finished with my garden yet. God has not finished with me yet. God has not finished with you yet.

Betsy

Come, follow me. Luke 18:22

More on Weeds

Dealing with weeds is a never ending battle in the garden. Even the straw I covered my weed cloth with is growing grass. I can pull these weeds easily, because their roots are not in the ground, but they still divert water from the plants and, therefore, must go.

There is a time and place for grass, but it is not today in my garden.

Harder to pull are those weeds that are growing tucked up close to the plant, rooted in the soil with the plant. Sometimes, I can’t pull those weeds because doing so would damage the plant.

And what is a weed, really? By definition, a weed is just a plant growing where you don’t want it to grow. There’s nothing inherently bad about the plant; it is just growing where I don’t want it to grow. Some “weeds,” like dandelions, are quite beneficial.

So, while I sometimes think of weeds as “sin,” they are more analogous to distractions. This is the analogy Jesus made.

As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. Luke 8:14

There is nothing inherently bad about the cares and riches and pleasures of life, just as there is nothing inherently bad about any plant, until they choke off the production of spiritual fruit in my life. I would even argue that there is a time and place for the cares and riches and pleasures of life, but they need to be secondary to God.

A garden is a space set aside, a weed-free place dedicated to the growth of fruit. My personal devotional time is also a space set aside, a concern free time dedicated to growing in the likeness of Christ.

Because we need to be alert to the cares of the world, we need to tend to our business, and we are called to enjoy the world. But these things are not to take top priority in our lives.

Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:31-32

I am amazed, in this land of plenty, how much of my time and money I dedicate to what I eat and drink and what I wear. Those weeds! I confess I let them grow up in my garden and I let them grow up in my life. I wonder what it would look like if I truly subjugated my earthly desires to God’s righteous ones, if I had a have a weed-free garden?

I have a sense that I will never know, at least not this side of heaven. I just have to go out regularly and weed the garden. I have to examine my garden and my life regularly and look for weeds. What concerns for wealth or image or pleasure are encroaching on my love of God? Where am I putting my wishes above the needs of others? Where am I letting those weeds grow up, and why?

Am I just too lazy to pull them, too comfortable where I am? Is that inertia whispering in my ear that God won’t really care if I let the weeds grow? God cares. He wants to produce beautiful fruit in my life, fruit that I cannot produce on my own. All He asks is that I give Him the time and space to produce it.

So today, I will go out to the garden and pull some weeds. It’s a good day in the garden.

I hope you are enjoying my garden as well. I appreciate your sharing this space with me and hope you invite some friends to join us.

Betsy

He has given us the power to become Children of God. John 1:12

Waiting

I have to admit this: I don’t like to wait. I don’t even like to shop. If I need something, I get it. No reason to waste time thinking about it forever.

But that doesn’t work in the garden.

In the garden, I have to wait. I have to wait for the plants to grow. I have to wait for the fruit to appear. I have to wait for the fruit to grow and ripen. No amount of wishing or impatience on my part changes that.

Every day, I walk in the garden. I check on the growth, make sure they are getting enough water, correct and support the growth as needed, watch and wait. And wait.

The tomatoes are there. They are large and green. And still green. I wonder if impatience led to fried green tomatoes.

Waiting. It’s possibly the hardest thing to do, especially for us in the here and now. If we were servants, we would have to wait for our master’s command. If we lived in the millennia before digital communications, we would have to wait for information to arrive and for communications to be returned. If we lived in a time of austerity, we would have to wait to until something was available that we could afford. As it is, we live in a world besot with self determination, going for it, instant communication, immediate gratification, easy credit and over abundance.

Maybe waiting is difficult for you as well.

Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14

If you read the Old Testament, waiting was never something that people found easy. Sarah couldn’t wait for Isaac’s birth, but had her servant conceive Ishmael; their descendants are still fighting. The Hebrews in the desert couldn’t wait for Moses to return, so they created a molten calf to lead them. They were impatient to get to the promised land. There are many instances of God asking His people to wait, and many instances of God’s people complaining about having to wait.

How long, O Lord? (Psalm 119:81, Psalm 13:1, Habakkuk 1:2, Psalm 71:12, Psalm 89:46)

But in a garden, you must wait; work while you wait for sure, but wait.

There is no point in complaining or fretting or getting anxious about how long it is taking the plant to mature. It just takes time. I just have to wait.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6.

What a lesson for life. Some things take time.

It takes time for those green tomatoes to turn red. Sometimes it takes time for me to forgive someone. It has taken a lot of time for me to not become angry when someone cuts in front of me. It may take time before God fulfills His promise to you. In the meantime, God calls us to have faith and wait.

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. James 5:7

So, be patient. Wait on the Lord. He is at work, even if we can’t see it. Have faith.

Fear not. Fret not. When the time is right, the plant will grow and bear fruit. When the time is right, the fruit will be ready.

And the good news is that, since patience is a fruit of the Spirit, your ability to wait for God to accomplish His plans is evidence of His fruit ripening in your life.

Take a deep breath, my friend, and enjoy your summer.

Betsy

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him.” John 9:3

Robbed

I had my first tomato sandwich yesterday – delicious! There were several more tomatoes on the vine; I was so looking forward to picking, eating and sharing them.

This morning, they are all gone. Every one of them. Robbed. My guess is that whatever took them got under the bird netting and up and over the fence; probably a squirrel. Large enough to carry them off, small enough to not tear the cloth. I found a half eaten red tomato in the yard; I found no green ones.

Fortunately, I have planted indeterminate tomatoes, and I hope I will get new blossoms, new tomatoes. For now, the problem is preventing the predators from returning. I need to secure the netting and check my fence for openings. I need to search my garden for how the squirrel got through and correct the problem.

What I don’t need to do is get all upset about the lost tomatoes. It is in the squirrel’s nature to test any obstacles in its way. And the purpose of a test is to show us what we have mastered and where we need to improve. My netting is protecting the garden from the birds, but needs some work to withstand the squirrels.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless, indeed, you fail the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5

I had a dustup with a friend. It has exposed a gap in my spiritual netting. I am too busy justifying my actions to feel remorse, too offended to feel compassion, too self-righteous to humble myself. I have let the thief come in the night and rob me of the fruit of the Spirit. What I need to do is search myself and discover how I let that happen. Where are the gaps in the fence, the open spaces in the netting? How was I so easily robbed? I need to correct the problem.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

What I don’t need to do is dwell on the problem, stress over it, fixate on it. More important than the lost tomatoes is the realization that I need to fix my netting. More important than the dustup is the realization that I need to realign myself with God.

It is hard to let the past go. It is a challenge to not relive the mistakes we’ve made, the wounds we have inflicted, the wounds inflicted upon us. Dwelling on past hurts can easily consume our day. But the past does not need to determine who we are. Even the recent past. Whatever I did wrong yesterday, and I am sure there was plenty, does not mandate what my actions today will be.

Today is a new day.

I will water my garden and try again to protect it from robbers and thieves.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

God has given me this new day, and the promise of new blossoms. God has shown me I cannot manifest His fruit by my own abilities. I need God, and I need to be vigilant against my baser self or evil forces robbing me of the Spirit’s fruit.

Fortunately, God has also given me the ability to do just that.

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. John 1:12

So I will not let the tomato robber end my garden. I will not let the peace robber end my spiritual journey. These are setbacks and disappointments; these are tests I have failed. But God has given me faith, and hope, and love. Thank You Lord!

Go in peace, dear friend; go in the peace of God.

Betsy

The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. John 14:12

The Heat of Summer

We’ve had record heat this year for June, weeks of temperatures in the upper 90’s. My pepper plants are loving it. I can’t remember the last time I have had peppers in June, although it was probably ten years ago when we had a similar early heat wave. Usually I have to wait until July.

One year, we had to wait until August. We had had a very cool summer. It was mid-July and our pepper plants still had no fruit at all. We were worried. Was something wrong?

Nick talked to the man at the Agricultural center, and he explained that pepper plants need to be stressed to bear fruit. Heat is the main stressor for most plants. Although stressing the plant artificially was an option, he suggested just waiting; it was bound to get hot at some point. And, of course, it did.

Because as unpredictable as the weather can be year to year, month to month or day to day, we know there will be periods of “unseasonable” temperatures when it is too hot or too cold. There will be excessive rainfall and periods of drought. There will be storms. We just don’t know when.

As humans, we strive to insulate ourselves from these unpleasant situations. We have built ourselves protective homes; heating and a/c to moderate the temperature; comfy beds and chairs; TVs, PCs, i10s – escape on demand. But my garden is not that protected. My plants are dealing with the weather head on.

And the peppers are thriving.

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Maybe we only produce fruit when we are “stressed,” when we are facing trials. Of course, it takes much less heat to stress a tomato plant than it does to stress a pepper plant, but it still takes some.

And who knows if my pepper plants are really “loving” this heat? They may not enjoy the stressful situation that encourages their fruit production. They may even resent being put in such a situation. But their fruit is a beautiful thing.

… knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us. Romans 5:3-5

Do I love being in the situations that make me bear fruit? Can I show patience if I am never frustrated? Am I showing love and kindness if I only spend time with people I like? Will I bear the fruit of gentleness if nothing angers me?

Maybe we, like the plants, need some stress, need the heat of the summer to bear our fruit.

Maybe that heat reveals if we are bearing the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of our own selfish desires.

How am I reacting to the stress, to the heat? Because this has already been a very hot summer. This has already been a very stressful summer. And not just for my garden.

Just turn on the news for 15 minutes.

Am I bearing fruit? Am I bearing the Spirit’s fruit? Are you?

As a gardener, I look forward to the heat of the summer. The heat makes the plants produce the fruit I want.

I admit I rarely look forward to the heat and stress in my life. I rarely “consider it joy.” And yet, if it makes me produce that fruit, isn’t it a good thing?

And don’t forget that in order to survive and thrive in high heat, plants need even more water; and we need even more prayer.

Perhaps I will learn to welcome the situations which cause me to bear fruit, as I welcome the heat of summer.

My prayer is that you and I will bear much holy fruit this summer. Thank you for sharing your time with me.

Betsy

For in fact, the kingdom of God is among you. Luke 17:21

Bird Netting

My tomatoes are ripening, it makes me so happy! The little green tomatoes have fattened and became light and lighter. Now they are turning pink. They stand out against all the green leaves, drawing my eyes to their difference.

But I am not the only one who has noticed this ripening fruit. The birds have noticed as well. They love to come and peck the tomatoes as soon as any rose hint appears. Are they drinking the juice? Attracting bugs for a more protein rich meal? Confusing it with a flower? Who knows? What I do know is they can destroy my tomatoes.

So every summer I go through the ridiculously laborious task if putting up bird netting. After several summers of losing our tomatoes to the birds, Nick erected a metal pole frame over which we could lay the netting. This at least keeps the plants from growing through the netting. The netting is almost invisible and catches on everything, even grass. Getting the netting unfolded, unrolled, and over the metal poles, which are taller than me, tests my patience.

And it’s not something I can do by myself.

But if this extra effort helps protect a bountiful harvest of fruit, then it is definitely worth the time and frustration.

Am I willing to exert that effort to protect my spiritual fruit from predators who aim to destroy it?

Because just as red tomatoes stand out against green leaves, your spiritual fruit will stand out against the background of worldly living. When you are loving when you have every “right” to be angry, when you are gentle when many would use force, when you are peaceful in a time of unrest, others will notice. Some will admire you and rejoice, but others will take advantage of you, apply more pressure, maybe even make you a target.

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but … against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly place. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to … stand firm. Ephesians 6:12-13

To make sure that my fruit continues to ripen unscarred and protected from those who would destroy it, I need to shield it with bird netting. I need to erect a barrier between my fruit, the evidence of the Holy Spirit in my life, and the world around me, a barrier that is almost invisible but keeps the fruit intact.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Like putting up bird netting, renewing our minds is not a simple task. It can be time-consuming and frustrating. It catches on our emotions and knee-jerk reactions. We, I, often fall far short of what is good or acceptable, much less perfect.

But don’t give up. Keep at the task, because that layer of protection is the only way the fruit can ripen without being destroyed.

Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:11

And it’s not something I can do by myself.

I need my church. I need my Christian friends. I need the Holy Spirit – after all, it’s His fruit that’s growing!

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. Ephesians 6:18

The tomatoes are turning red, displaying themselves to the world. It is a time of joy, but also a time when they need additional protection from that which would steal and destroy them. Put in the effort, my friend, and get that bird netting in place.

Thank you for reading this and sharing it with your friends. The world needs to see the fruit of the Spirit right now. I pray it is growing in your life, ripening for all to see.

Betsy

Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5