For the last several years, we’ve grown a small summer garden in our backyard. Some bush and pole beans, a few tomato plants, zucchini and carrots.
You ask, “So how did it go for you?”
Let’s just say if we had to survive on what we produce, we’d be in serious trouble. While we did have several healthy rounds of beans and a few zucchini, our tomatoes were almost entirely gobbled up by black squirrels. Jesus said the Lord feeds the birds (Matthew 6:26); He leaves it to us to feed the squirrels.
And then there are the carrots. For the past few years, our carrot output has been rather dismal. At best, we get a few carrots the size of AA batteries. Even the rabbits that frequent our yard don’t bother with our carrots.
So, this past Tuesday afternoon, as we were clearing out the garden, we discovered a delightful surprise: carrots. Lots of them. And not puny, anemic ones either. Carrots you might find at a farmer’s market.
We unearthed a reminder of the truth recorded in Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Those of us involved in serving Christ can sometimes get discouraged in our labours. We don’t see much fruit. And what we do see seems small and anemic. Or it gets gobbled up by pests and predators. It’s tempting to give up.
And then God gives us a delightful surprise. We discover He’s been at work in ways we can’t see. As Paul told the Corinthian Christians, “God has been making it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6).
So, to all of you labouring in God’s harvest field, remember He is at work whether you see it now or not. There will be a harvest at the proper time. So don’t give up. God has a way of producing “surprise carrots.”
Rick and Linda Reed 