Oh, the Process!

Next spring, I’m planning to have a garden. Right now, however, I’m starting with a patch of grass.

For months I’ve been thinking, plotting, planning, sketching, tallying, and accumulating everything needed to turn that lawn into a fenced, fruitful garden. I’m constantly running ideas past my wife, mostly for moral support. She likes the garden idea, but she doesn’t necessarily need a dissertation on galvanized nails, economical fence pickets, or pressure-treated lumber. She trusts me to think it through, spend wisely, and build something attractive and durable. That trust is a blessing in itself.

Last night I stood at Lowe’s sorting through a few hundred fence pickets to select 55 good ones, and Luke 14:28 came to mind: before you build, count the cost.

That principle reaches far beyond lumber.

A successful Christian life doesn’t happen accidentally. Wouldn’t it be nice if Scripture worked by osmosis? Just hold your Bible long enough and suddenly Romans, Psalms, and Proverbs download themselves into your brain! Unfortunately, spiritual growth requires reading. Prayer. Time. Devotion. Commitment. Process.

This past weekend I rototilled the garden area, pulled out four or five wagonloads of grass and roots, then tilled everything three times until the soil was deep and loose. Afterward came another hour of hauling the mess away. I actually said out loud to myself, “This is a lot of work for tomatoes.”

It’s not just about planning and plowing…Cleanup is part of the process, too.

My father was an amazingly artistic, hardworking craftsman, but sometimes the project was finished while the tools and mess remained for weeks. I learned something from that: finishing well includes cleaning up.

So God is reminding me to embrace the whole process. Keep your eyes on the fruit. For me, that’s Michigan potatoes, Roma tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, beets, carrots, strawberries—and hopefully much more.

For the Christian, the harvest is greater still.

Keep digging. Keep planting. Keep growing. Wherever you are in the process, God is at the end of it—and one day we will enjoy the ultimate fruit of our labor: eternity with Christ.