It's not easy being green.

 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Galatians 6:7-9

My thumb is not bright green, but I am  learning more gardening skills. I am trying to figure out what plants like  how much sun and how much water. One thing I noticed is that a plant that was in a pot last year showed up in a spot where I didn't plant it. I have seen this a couple of times. One year a tomato plant grew up volunteer out of my mom's compost pile. Those were the biggest sweetest tomatoes I ever had. My gardening friends say that the wind ( which we have lots of here in West Texas) water, or animals can transfer seeds to other places.

I have seen this in my life, too. During both the lock-down and my grief journey, things have been hard, but I have seen blessings from unexpected sources. One time a stranger put gas in my car for me when I was scraping the bottom of the barrel for change waiting for my paycheck to come in. "random people" stepped up to help us on our road trip to the funeral. People have called me "out of the blue" too let me know they are thinking about me.This past week I was very sick with shingles. I had friends that brought me supper, hot tea and ginger ale, friends who brought me vitamins and pain killers and friends who prayed for me.  I asked God why they helped me when I had not done anything for them. The verse that came to mind was  Galatians 6:7-9.

 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

For some reason, I had always seen this in a negative light. If you do bad things you will get bad things in return. I had never realized that when I have poured into someone's life, I may reap from an entirely different place. I am sometimes so tempted to "lose heart in doing good". One of my biggest temptations is the voice that says "That's not enough to make any difference."

Another verse that expresses the same thought in a different way is Ecclesiastes 11:1 "Cast your bread upon the waters and you will find it again after many days." When we do godd to others because God has been good to us, we  will receive a reward.  Like the plants that come up volunteer where they were not planted, our reward may not come in the way we expect, but it will come.

Psalms 1:1-4 says, "Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

If we are walking with God and taking delight in his law, He can bless us from any source He desires. as we read in psalms 50:10, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills."

More now than ever, the world needs Jesus and  it needs the church. Ask God to show you where to sow and how you are reaping. 



Ecclesiastes 11:1 says "cast your bread upon the waters, and you will find it again after many days. This is true of giving and it is also true of work we do for the kingdom.