The miracle of God’s amazing provision

‘…the land produced much vegetation-all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed bearing fruit.  Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good’ (Genesis 1:12).

Source:www.knowing-jesus.com

In March 2014 my husband very excitedly secured himself an allotment.  When I went with my husband to share in his joy I was very surprised to be standing in front of a very large plot of extremely over grown land. I was initially deterred by the huge amount of work it would take to clear the land however my husband was not put off by my lack of enthusiasm, Praise God and he started to put a plan in place to get the land cleared ready for him to plant some seeds and reap a harvest. My husband worked really hard every weekend to prepare the allotment, he turned the land over and removed every single weed by hand. Our son and I helped one day and it was really hard physical work.  After months of preparation, dedication and passion my husband managed to get the allotment to a place where it was ready to plant some seeds. Praise God.

Just to grow cauliflowers alone, my husband had to sow the cauliflower seeds into pots and then after a few weeks he had to individually separate the small shoots (something known as pricking out). The very tiny delicate shoots had to be handled SO carefully.  After several weeks exposed to the sunshine the tiny shoots were ready to be transplanted into the prepared allotment land. The next stage in the process of growing the cauliflower was to lovingly water and feed the tiny shoots on a regular basis.  A few months later there was evidence of many tiny cauliflowers beginning to bud. It was amazing, a real blessing to be a part of this incredible experience. From a packet of seeds these cauliflowers started to take shape and then there was the growth of potatoes, beetroot, onions, corn and a whole range of other vegetables and several fruits, Praise God. The preparation for all of the range of vegetables (and fruit) was similar to the cauliflower. Hours and Hours of hard work, but my husband enjoyed every second because he told me that he felt really close to God through out the whole process. The huge amount of preparation and hard work reminded me of the scripture in Revelation 19:7, ‘…the bride has made herself ready….’

This photograph was taken from the same position as the
photograph above in June 2015

From the day my husband started work on his beloved allotment to his first harvest the bible scriptures kept going around in my mind and many Scripture’s came to life. Here are just a few of them; 

Hard work, commitment and focus;
Proverbs 13:4 ‘…those who work hard will prosper….’
Proverbs 6: 6-8 ‘… take lessons from the ants, you lazy bones….’
Proverbs 12:24 ‘Work hard and become a leader, be lazy and become a slave.’
Proverbs 14:23 ‘work brings profit but mere talk leads to poverty’

The ability to believe and see an end result;
2 Corinthians 5:7 ‘…. we live by faith and not sight’
Hebrews 11:1 ‘… assurance about what we do not see….’
James 1:6 ‘… You must believe and not doubt….’

The ability to not be deterred from his dream by any negative comments spoken;
Song of Solomon 2:15 ‘….catch the Foxes before they ruin the vineyard’
Psalm 1:1 ‘…The joy of those who do not follow the advise of the wicked…’
Proverbs 4:23 ‘….what we sow in our minds will run our life….’

The obvious scripture that is constantly alive in my mind is the Parable of the sower and the seed; Matthew 13:1-23.

A photograph of part of the harvest - Praise God

The ongoing lessons for me personally are far too many to mention but the greatest blessings has been to learn how to 'be just still and know that I am GOD', (Psalm 46:10), to watch the miracle of new life, to witness how hard work, faith and passion pay off to reap a ‘mighty harvest’. For me the blessing of the allotment is time away from mobile phones, the internet, housework, cooking and so on. It is a time of incredible peace, joy and absolute wonder, a time of prayer and thanksgiving, in acknowledgement of God’s amazing provision (Genesis 1:12). The allotment also deepens my love for my husband because when he plants a seed and there is evidence of new life he gets SO excited like a small child on his birthday and to be a part of this overwhelming joy is infectious and a real blessing to my life. God blesses my heart because it deepens my love for him. To God be all the Glory always. 

In summary my experience of the allotment leads me to ask myself the question, where do I invest my time? Also, and more importantly; what harvest will I reap? I believe my heart is my allotment and I must do the hard work to prepare my heart so My God has a fertile land, wholly surrendered to His service and then the seed of his Word may bear His heavenly fruit through me, praise God. It is my responsibility with the help of the Holy Spirit to keep the land weeded and to ‘watch for the foxes’ (Song of Solomon 2:15), my mind is the doorway to my heart so I must ‘guard my mind always’ (Proverbs 4:23). I am a soldier at war so I must never be without my sword and my full armor on (Nehemiah 4:18 & Ephesians 6:10-17), we know 'the devil prowls around like a roaring lion' (1 Peter 5:8), BUT 'He who is in me has defeated him' (1 John 4:4)! Praise God, Amen.

Author: Christina O’Neill 

May God bless and enrich your life

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