I love gardening and each spring look for seeds to plant and watch grow. This past spring was no different. On one of our family shopping trips, my daughter and I were looking at the seed display rack when one package stood out above all others. Being impressed with the pictures and descriptions on the package, I decided to buy a package of cosmos seeds for around a quarter. My daughter and I took an old egg carton, filled each cup with dirt, and planted two seeds into each cup, then placed the egg carton in the window sill. Just as stated on the package, within ten days, the first sprouts of green appeared in the makeshift seed starting pots. Within another three weeks, the seedlings were ready to transplant into window boxes.
I would love to tell you that the plants grew and gave an abundance of blossoms as the picture above or even on the seed envelope had shown. What happened instead is that one set of plants were attacked by bugs, leaving only one plant unscathed. It never bloomed. In the other window box, we had four out of six plants survive whatever it was that ate the other ones, but only one plant bloomed – and the two flowers it had were asymmetric – a far cry from the pictures that had led us to buy that particular seed to try. As my daughter and I dumped out the window boxes this morning, we began to have a discussion about why things don’t always do what we hope they will. It started simple enough, “Daddy, these flowers didn’t get very pretty like the pictures. What happened?” At one time another, we have all asked that question – “Lord, why didn’t this work?” I am reminded of this passage of scripture: Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil (James 4:13-16).
We’re all guilty of it; we make plans independently from the Lord and when they do not work out the way we want, we immediately begin our attempt to understand why by asking God, “Lord, why didn’t it work?” We even see that the disciples during the time when the Lord Jesus walked the earth also asked this same question: Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? (Matthew 17:19). We all know the story, the disciples went to cast out a devil out of a young man and could not do it. They then brought the boy to the Lord, whom then was able to cast out the devil. Instead of rejoicing about the deliverance of the young lad, the disciples kept the focus of the story on themselves; in effect they asked “Lord, why didn’t it work for us?” The gospel of Matthew doesn’t tell us if any time passed between the working of the Lord and the question posed by the disciples. Knowing myself, it would have been a consuming question that probably would have driven me to ask it nearly immediately after the miracle was performed. I imagine that the disciples were shocked when they discovered – at the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ – that their attitude was the very reason for their failure to deliver the boy.
So, some of you may be wondering what does planting seeds and the inability of the disciples to release the young boy from being possessed? Had both been successful, where would the glory have been placed? In the case of the window boxes, I probably would never have thought to give the thanks and praise to the Lord. Chances are, the disciples would probably have had a similar reaction and would have focused more on their abilities and not the Lord who had given them the abilities. It would have been nothing to think “wow, those flowers sure are pretty; glad I planted them” or “wow, we just released this precious boy from the devil that possessed him” and not giving the glory, the thanks, and the praise to the Lord. This is the message that the apostle Paul was trying to convey to the early Christians at Thessaloniki when he wrote, Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (I Thessalonians 5:16-18).
As Christians and children of God, we must remember that our failures do affect God. Just as I become concerned when my daughter is not able to carry out what she sets out to do, I am sure God has a similar reaction. I know as a parent there have been several times I have thought to myself, “Sweetie, that’s not going to work…” then have to comfort her as what I knew what was going to happen did. Since the Bible often compares the roles of parents and the Lord Jesus Christ, I bet there have been times in my life where the Lord has thought, “I wish he would wait, listen and wouldn’t do that…” or “it’s not going to work…” just to have to watch my best made and intended plans fail. With our finite and feeble minds it is hard for us to understand that God has the benefit of being all-knowing, and sees the beginning from the end. If we just turn to him more in the things that we do and seek His guidance, we would probably experience less failures and more joy. Instead of turning to God when it doesn’t work, what if we make seeking the Lord’s will our first step in even the smallest plan we have?
Since Wednesday of last week, there has been a constant theme that has run through my personal devotions, Sunday school, and a couple of Facebook messenger conversations – the wonder of God’s grace. Let me begin this devotional by saying that I have matured a lot in my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, but I have a long way to go. There are areas where I still need to grow and I have faith in the abilities of God that He will craft me and mold me into the man who He has called me to be. While I am not a perfect man, I am not the man who I was even five years ago. When I was at a marketing training seminar for a non-profit organization, one of the speakers made a profound statement that has a spiritual application: if you’re not growing, you’re in the process of dying.
A while back ago, I saw this picture on Facebook and actually had a pretty good laugh. This Chinese restaurant’s name is OK Chinese Food, and you can probably rest assured that there are many people who have also laughed at this failed message. When I was on temporary duty in South Korea back in the ’90s, I learned that when Koreans used that phrase, for them, it didn’t mean average or just enough to get by, but they meant it as something that was good. My South Korean counterpart even told me that the phrase, “OK” had been adopted by the South Korean culture over time in their efforts to understand and communicate with the American military stationed in South Korea.
