Gardening, Part 1:
The Favour of the Lord
I was contemplating the subject of the favour of the
Lord yesterday morning, meditating on the fact that the primary way to earn
that favour is to be "blameless" in His site ("… the LORD bestows favor
and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is
blameless." Ps 84:11 NIV).
I realized as I read this verse that the only requirement for God's favour
was to accept Jesus' gift of righteousness, and when we do, God sees us as
"blameless". This means, then, that everyone who has accepted Jesus as their
personal Lord and Saviour ALREADY has God's favour!
But if this is true, then why does it seem to so many of us that God has
withheld His favour? I mean, when we look at our circumstances, at the
unanswered prayers, at the fact that so many are still in hopeless
situations, how can it be said that we already have God's favour?
I hadn't resolved this dilemma when I decided to spend the day gardening.
Now I know that gardening is an activity enjoyed by many, but I'm not of the
same opinion. I don't like the feel of dirt on my hands, I hate weeds,
especially the ones with needles and thorns, and the kind of weeds that
voraciously take over any attempt I have made at a flower bed are all the
kind that break off at the soil level, leaving a beautiful, healthy root
still firmly embedded amongst my flowers. In addition, I burn very easily,
and after being in the hot sun for just a little while, I usually end up
with a massive head ache. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that I am ++++
allergic to grass, and many of nature's other finest greenery! But perhaps
the reason I hate gardening as much as I do is the sense of futility. I know
good and well that no matter how hard I work, those weeds will return!
But as I stood at the window looking out over our yard yesterday, I realized
that the weeds weren't pulling themselves, and the 20 sacks of cedar mulch
we had purchased were not doing any good sitting in the garage. It occurred
to me that if I wanted the work to get done, I would have to do it myself.
And that's what I set out to do. Naturally, I got dirt under my nails, to
say nothing about dirt smudges over my entire body. My arms broke out in
hives from the weeds, my eyes itched and my nose ran, my muscles screamed
out in pain, and I got sunburned. All of my "prophecies" came to pass.
I couldn't help thinking about the subject of God's favour through this
experience. Did He withhold His favour from me by not sending me someone to
do my gardening? I mean, today, in the aftermath, my eyes are still itching,
my skin is still burned, and every muscle in my body is screaming out in
pain from my overexertion. So just where is God's favour in all of this?
In the end however, I know that my muscles will eventually stop aching, and
will be stronger as a result of my exercise. And just think of all that
beautiful Vitamin D I soaked up!
And what of my garden? It has never looked so good!
So did God really withhold His favour?
No. He didn't.
The problem lies in the fact that I have my own little definition of what is
God's favour! In my mind, God would bestow favour by sending someone to do
my gardening for me! And when it didn't happen, I figured God had withheld
His favour!
But God knows that what I really need is strong muscles and a storehouse
full of Vitamin D! From His prospective, He had me do my own gardening so
that I could attain what I really needed!
Could it be that when we feel that God has withheld His favour, it is simply
because we are trying to define for ourselves what will make us ultimately
happy? Could it be that God, in His love and wisdom, knows what we REALLY
need to be happy, and allows us to go through hard times to develop that?
Can we trust God enough to know that whatever it is we're going through, in
the end, we will be stronger for it? Can we trust Him enough to know that
while we're going through those valleys, God is always there, holding us up,
crying with us, supporting us, giving us strength?
I think I'll look at gardening with a little different light next time.
But wait a minute: God didn't want all those weeds to be there in the first
place (See Gen 3:17-19). And what about my sunburn? In the end, it puts me
at risk for developing skin cancer! Surely these things couldn't have been
part of God's favour! Please join us next Saturday, for GARDENING, Part 2.
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two teens, Author and
Moderator for The Nugget, and the Scriptural Nuggets website,
www.scripturalnuggets.org,
with Answers2Prayer ministries,
www.answers2prayer.org.