09.26.18
Though
I am not an expert in greenhouses, I think I understand how they generally
function. The purpose of a greenhouse is to create the ideal conditions for
growth, regardless of the season outside the greenhouse. Heat and humidity are
controlled to produce the ideal environment for growing things.
Maybe
you’ve noticed that life doesn’t always provide us with what would be
considered ideal conditions. There is often something or someone in our life
contributing to a less than ideal environment for our growth and thriving.
What
we do when we face these less than ideal conditions will determine, to a great
degree, whether will thrive in life.
The
dangerous and deceptive thing is that we often think we know what the
conditions should be in our life. We think we know what would work for our best
benefit. So, we take over management of our ‘greenhouse’ [life] and we look to
acquire what we think we need to create the ideal conditions. Our prayers often
become instructions for God, so He will know what to do; like He needs our wisdom,
or our world may fall apart. 😊
In
life I have been humbled many times. That which I thought was the ‘worst,’ God
worked for His best in my life. That which I thought would be ‘best’ for my
life, ended up not being helpful and, at times, even a hindrance to God’s
purposes.
The
stages of a seed provide a powerful life lesson. Before a seed ever sprouts
[germinates] it is placed in the ground and “dies”.
In
John 12:24 we find these words of Jesus: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground
and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many
seeds.”
Buried,
surround by soil and shrouded by darkness, the seed has all the appearances of
something that has died. Not so. It is the first stage in the new life that will sprout from the seed. You may be in a ‘dark place’ right now and
feel like you’ve been ‘buried’ by life. Remember, God has placed His seed (His precepts and promises) in you to grow,
so give it time.
What
is so shocking about what Jesus is saying, is that very few of us share His
view of death. It is hard for us to comprehend the stages of a seed, where the
process of life begins with the dying of the seed.
Tomatoes
are an item that are often grown in a greenhouse. If it were winter, we could
probably find a greenhouse tomato in the produce section of the grocery store.
The funny thing about tomatoes grown in a greenhouse is they, as you would
expect, have many of the features of a tomato (color, shape, size, etc.). But
if you are given the choice between eating a greenhouse tomato or one grown in
the ground, there is no comparison. One can immediately tell the difference in
flavor, texture, and juiciness. Nothing beats a sun-ripened tomato!
As
I see it, we each face a choice: Will we
try to live in a greenhouse (a place where we control all the conditions) OR are we willing to ‘die’ in the ground (so
we can live)?
In
my next post I want to explore topics, such as: obedience, submission, and control,
specifically, in the context of when conditions of our life are less than ideal.
