Frog and Toad
I planted. Apollos watered, but God gives the increase. 1 Cor.
In my family we love the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel. They are funny and have good lessons. In one story Frog and Toad decide to surprise each other by raking the leaves. They each secretly go to the other’s house, rake the leaves and come home unseen. On the way home, the wind whips the leaves around and each friend returns home to his own yard full of leaves, but happy in the knowledge that the other will not have to rake. Another cute episode involves the two friends making cookies. They eat several and decide it is time to quit. Then they need one last cookie, one very last cookie and one very, very last cookie. I can relate to that. Probably my favorite Frog and Toad story is about the garden. Frog decides he wants a garden. He plants the seeds, stands back and says, “Grow, seeds. Grow.” When that doesn’t work he decides maybe the seeds can’t hear him and yells, “Come on, seeds. Grow.” Toad informs him that the seeds need water and sunlight. He waters them and makes sure they have plenty of light. He sings to them. He talks to them. He reads poems to them, and even takes the torch out at night so they won’t be afraid to grow. Finally he is worn out and falls asleep in the garden. When Toad wakes him up, there are tiny seedlings poking out of the dirt.
I know we don’t do that to our gardens, but what about our spiritual life? Are we impatient with ourselves when we do not develop or grow as quickly as we should? One of the enemy’s favorite taunts is, “You should be further along than this by now.” How about when we are working with others? Do we become frustrated with those we are witnessing to, or with baby Christians, when we don’t see change? Have you ever watched your children and thought, “Grow, seeds, grow!” Even worse, I have worked with people before and they either just didn’t get it or they slid back into old behaviors. Then someone else comes along and works with them, and they get it. I am tempted to wonder what the second person had that I didn’t. Did I not explain it well enough? Was I too easy or too hard on them?
The truth is that with plants and in life things take time and development. Plants have to be planted, have water, sunshine and fertilizer. Sometimes the same gardener does not do all the work. The Corinthian Christians were having tension because some of them had been taught by Paul and some by Apollos, and felt they should follow one or the other. Paul explained to them that it was God who produced the growth, no matter who was involved in the process. When we hear the gospel the seed is planted. As we spend time in the word, in fellowship and in prayer, we water the seed and it grows. Trials in life provide fertilizer that God can use to help us grow. We cannot measure our growth or others’ growth by someone else’s progress or by a timetable. We measure growth by how much we look like Jesus. Also, we cannot take blame or credit for someone else’s growth or lack of growth.
God is the master gardener. He knows the exact amount of sunshine, rain, fertilizer, songs, poems and torches we need to grow.
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