I really wanna be a gardener. Maybe some day when I have more time, I will be. I absolutely love being outdoors. I’m sure it has a lot to do with me growing up in the country. I grew up with lots of land and space around me. Trees. Flowers. Critters. The wind blowing against my face is like “God kisses” to me. When the sun is shining and there is a cool breeze blowing through the trees, I feel like I’ve tasted a glimpse of heaven. I really feel closer to God when I’m outdoors.

I’ve learned so many lessons about life as I’ve observed and studied nature, plants especially. I’ve been praying for clarity and direction about some things in my life lately. And as he often does, he uses plants to point me to the answer. That’s why I need to be a gardener.

He’s been teaching me that we’ve all been created and chosen by Him to do good in the world. Just as an apple tree was created to produce juicy, delicious apples which provide nourishment for people and animals, we have been created to provide what others are in need of. I’ve said this before, you are the answer to someone’s prayer. People around us need our fruit. We need their fruit as well.

When I look at the variety in nature, I realize that God is a God of infinite diversity. There are many different types of fruit. Different animals flourish on different types of fruit. Each fruit has its own unique beneficial qualities. We can’t expect to have all of our nutritional needs met by eating only one type of food, even it’s a SUPERFOOD! We need variety in our diet, because our bodies need so many different types of nutrients in order to stay strong and healthy.

Each unique fruit meets a unique need.

In the same way, we weren’t meant to meet every need in the world. We were created and equipped to meet certain specific needs. When we choose not to produce our fruit, the world becomes deficient in something we were meant to fulfill.

There’s another valuable lesson to learn from gardening. Gardening is a lot of work and the results aren’t instantaneous. It can often be a constant battle against pests, weeds, the weather, and the conditions of the soil. If you live in the central Texas area, you know how difficult it can be to garden.

Gardening requires persistance and patience. It requires faith. Faith that at some point in the future something that doesn’t exist right now will be. Faith that all the work you’re doing will produce something good. A wise gardener knows there are times of much, much toil with little to no fruit, yet he trusts that the fruit will come at the proper time. So, even when he may be weary and discouraged, he continues to work.

Our Heavenly Father is the master Gardener. He desires to produce an abundant supply of fruit through us so that we might be a blessing to the world.  I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but the world is full of all sorts of needs and perplexing problems. Human ingenuity has done much to solve many of our problems while simultaneously creating new problems. At the same time, many of the same old problems continue to plague our world. Injustice still prevades our country. The history of our country is filled with oppression, fear and greed. What one person calls great, another calls shameful.

Here’s my point: Our Heavenly Father sees these problems and he hears the cry of His people. He desires to intervene THROUGH HIS PEOPLE. If we will humble ourselves before our God. If we will confess our unwillingness to release our agendas, and our comfort. If we will stop telling God how we want him to deliver us, and allow him to show up in ways that blow up our paradigm, HE WILL MOVE IN US.

Look around you. Listen to your neighbors. Read the posts on social media. People are afraid. People are angry. People need hope.

We are the hope.

The Father wants us to be a huge blessing to this world! We can do things on this earth that far exceed human imagination or reason. The world is in a state of starvation. Let us remain connected to Jesus so that he can provide all that the world needs.

Remain in me, as I also remain in  you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.  John 15:4-5;8

This malnourished world is starving, and as a result, people are grasping for any and everything that promises to satisfy their hunger.  They need our fruit!  Will you let Jesus produce fruit through you?