Lessons in the Garden

Gardening is full of life lessons.

This year I was picking the tomatoes just as soon as they started to turn color. If I tried to leave them until they’re fully ripe I would more than likely end up not getting any as they would end up splitting open or be attacked by bugs. Waiting too long meant a reduced harvest and not waiting long enough would have resulted in unripe tomatoes. The lessons learned meant overall the tomatoes were very productive this year and oh so tasty!

Then there are the green beans. They of course need to be picked at just the right time, too soon and they are limp with very little flavor, too late and they’re hard and not too tasty either. As I was bending over to pick them this particular day the sun was already beating on my face causing sweat to drop into my eyes. If you’ve ever picked green beans bent over trying to find them in amongst all of the greenery of the plant you know they can sometimes be hard to spot. If you then add sweat drops in your eyes to that mix it’s quite challenging to say the least. I soon decided to pick from the other side of the row so then the towering okra plants provided a bit of shade on my back and the sun was no longer directly in my face. This way it was a little easier to see and pick.

Sometimes we need to adjust our actions and sometimes we need to adjust our thoughts in order to see more clearly. We need to remain in the light, but sometimes it takes a little shade too in order to really focus. God can provide His light no matter where we are and He can provide relief from the heat of the garden or the heat of the moment if we simply look for His guidance.

As the plants in the garden begin to die back and stop producing, I remove them to make room for other plants to then grow or for the ground to rest. Those plants no longer serve a purpose so they must go. If I were to remove them too early, then I would lose out on some good vegetables but if I don’t remove them when I should then they could cause disease or bug issues for other nearby plants. As humans we need to be sure we don’t just remove people from our lives because they simply no longer serve our purpose. If we do this were they truly friends to begin with? Don’t get me wrong, there are times when the best thing we can do is remove some people from our lives, we just need to ensure we are doing it for the right reasons and in the right way.

Another lesson learned was in the okra. Initially the okra wasn’t doing as well as I thought it should be, based on my crop last year. I believe part of the problem was that I was treating it like the other vegetables and watering on the same schedule as them. I decided maybe it was getting too much water even though the heat has been insane this summer and I cut back on water. Shortly after reducing, it started producing very well. I also started cutting off the leaves/branches that were no longer going to assist with producing more okra and were simply using up nutrients that would be better used by the parts of the plant that were still productive. This reminded me of the importance of pruning areas of our own lives to ensure what we are doing is assisting us in being productive and living life for Him, not simply using up space and energy that would better serve us elsewhere.

We can all learn and grow when we plant ourselves in places where we allow God to water and prune us. If we go along treating ourselves and our loved ones just like everybody else, or like the world, then just like the garden, we will not live up to our full potential. Just as there are seasons for warm weather crops, cold weather crops, and even no crops at all, there are different seasons we too go through and we need to embrace each and every one of them as they come.

Sometimes we need to rotate crops to get the most out of the garden space and allow each crop to get the most nutrients out of the area they are planted in. Each crop has its own nutritional requirements in order to thrive and we too must be sure that where we are planted during the different seasons are where we will be most productive. Planting tomatoes in the exact same place year after year and not feeding the soil will produce less healthy plants and fewer tomatoes as the soil is robbed of it nutrients. If we remain in the same place year after year and we do not feed our minds and bodies with positive thoughts and more of what our bodies need, we too will become less productive and less healthy.

I personally want to be able to stand tall and proud like the okra and know that I’ve been as productive as I could because I was watered and pruned by my keeper. Just as I am the keeper of my okra, Jesus is the keeper of my heart and soul.

John 15:1-8 NKJV

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.