The other day I began prepping my garden for the spring planting of peas and lettuces. (They grow better in cooler weather, and peas taste sweeter if they flower before the last snow fall.)
At the same time as prepping the garden for spring, my spring bible study has been on the fruit of the Spirit. God’s timing is always amazing. We have been studying one attribute of the fruit of the Spirit a week. This week is patience. Not something I am good at. I am a go, go, go type. I like to always have projects going while keeping up with life, ministry, work, 3 teenagers and a husband. Patient, I am not. But God really revealed some things to me through this study and the prepping of the garden.
To grow a successful harvest, you don’t just plant when the time is right. There is a lot of prep work to be done first. Actually to be a successful gardener you should be working the garden in every season. Fall: harvesting. Winter: tilling up old plants, mixing in compost to nourish the soil in the cold. Spring: weeding anything that grew over the winter time (how do weeds do that?) Aerating the soil and mixing in more compost to nourish the ground and replace vital nutrients lost in the winter. And then comes planting, continued weeding, watering and fertilizing, watching for pests, taking care of any that you find through the late spring and summer. So in the midst of me doing this, God began to ask me, ”How am I taking care of my own garden? My soul? How am I prepping my kids’ gardens (souls) to grow the best harvest of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives?” My answer – I was maintaining. A little weeding (very little for me, more for the kids in the form of discipline) and good watering (I enjoy reading the word, and studying.) And that was where I realized that I was off! A garden takes year-round work – work when there is not a harvest yet in sight and when there are no seeds to plant. The fun part is the harvest. The hard part is getting to the harvest – the work part. You know, good old fashion labor! To have a good garden takes work and patience mixed together. Was I doing work in my own soul mixed with patience? How about for my kids? By the way, how are you doing in these areas?
Like I said, this week’s bible study was the fruit of patience. There are two types of “patience” found in the bible. Hupomone: “To persevere, remain under, bearing up with.” It refers to that quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. Hupomone is endurance in relation to circumstances. The other type is Makrothumia: “Self-restraint before proceeding to action.” Hupomone is inspired by hope, and Makrothumia is inspired by mercy. Hupomone is one we can get on our own. We can endure something because we have a hope of the outcome. Every woman who has given birth understands this. We endure 9 months of pregnancy, then pain in labor, all for the bundle of joy – our precious child! Makrothumia is only from God. It is a fruit of the Spirit only given and moved into action by God and God alone.
Jesus says to pray for your enemies (Matthew 5:43-48 and Matthew 5:39 and Luke 6:29). I think I understand why for the first time. Because to be people who act righteously in difficult situations with difficult people, we need endurance fueled by hope and patience fueled by mercy.
In some seasons of my life when things are smooth sailing, I don’t have rough circumstances and really no close enemies that cause me to be asking God to fill me with hope – hope found in His word, and hope from Him. I need to be teaching my kids the hope of Glory (Colossians 1:27 & Ephesians 1:11-14). We need to be memorizing what and Who real hope is. Just like mixing in compost in the winter and spring I need to mix hope in my heart and my children’s hearts. Then I need to add a whole lot of mercy. Seeking God to understand the mercy He showed me and them. (see Daniel 9:9, Ephesians 2:4, Titus 3:4-6, 1 Peter 1:3-9, and Romans 5:8). I must teach these truths to my children and hide them in my heart so that when the time comes I have a harvest of mercy for my enemies, and a harvest of endurance for my circumstances.