He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11
I was driving home the other day and admiring the corn growing in the fields surrounding our homes. It is rather shocking to me to watch how fast is grows. It seems like it grows a foot overnight! With this train of thought going, I started thinking about my own garden. I started questioning why it was taking so long to grow. This corn that is growing was planted from seed directly into the soil. While I am no expert, based on my own judgement, this soil is pretty heavy clay. Which means it gets HARD AS A ROCK when it is dry. Nevertheless, this corn continued to grow while not even being watered. It’s flourishing even under unlikely conditions. This corn is beautiful and looks to be thriving in all senses. However. After speaking with the farmer who cares for this land (a real nice gentleman) it was confirmed to me that this is GM corn. Genetically modified corn. Round-up ready (which means they can spray round up on it and kill the weeds but the corn is resistant to the round up). This corn is tainted. This corn is corrupt. It’s very DNA has been altered to make it seem so beautiful on the outside, but so darkly poisonous on the inside. How can this be so?
Ah. Driving down the road that day, I think I understand. It’s so simple. Sometimes it is hard to watch evil flourish. You know what I am talking about. Haven’t we all seen someone doing wrong yet so immensely successful and wealthy? Some of the greatest evil doers of all time were successful, beautiful, and wealthy people. On the outside. On the part of the corn that I see. Yet deep in the soul there is corruption and a tainted heart. We watch growth all around us and wonder why we are struggling so hard.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set [planted] eternity in the human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11
In it’s time. Time is eternal. It goes on forever. Our earthly lives are but a dot on a continuum, but there is an eternal life yet to come. However, there is no gap. It is a line. Some seeds sown will grow beautiful in this age, in this time, in this body. Other seeds planted in eternity will become beautiful once we have moved down the line a ways. While God has set eternity into human hearts, he has literally planted eternity in human hearts, we have overruled. We have found ways to alter our spiritual DNA. We have found ways to make beauty now, success now, wealth now. Our genetically modified soul looks beautiful in appearance yet is so empty inside. Lost. Fearful. Desperate.
That’s why the corn is so beautiful.
My garden on the other hand is struggling. We have put the effort into the garden to help nourish the land back to health. We want grow things that are nourishing on the inside. Fruit may have spots. Bugs might take a bite out of a leaf. These are beauty marks. Bugs leave the corn alone. Bugs are wise, we should learn from them.
The strangest thing happened however over the past week. I transplanted a bunch of plants within the last few weeks. After a couple days of being transplanted all of them seemed to be dying. Leaves falling off, turning yellow, shriveling. I was loosing hope. But then, just as I was about to call them dead, something crazy happened. New growth started and it started taking over the “dead” areas. Green leaves, strong stems, yellow disappearing. In gardening terms, I am not really sure what happened. Transplant shock? I am so pleased to see this. Even this morning as I was doing my daily garden inspection, I noticed my teeny tiny squash plant, that has yet to grow an inch was growing a flower. Hm. Interesting. It IS alive!!
Then I found this verse.
Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But—“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4-5
The concept of new birth and new life must also mean that there was an old birth and old life and then a death to bring about the new birth and life. I can never achieve this new birth and life through my own doings. Any life that I create myself is evil and misled. It is only by God’s mercy that I am invited to participate in his design. His eternal beauty.
Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Mark 8:34-36
It was as if my garden was giving up its life and gaining it back for the sake of the Good News. What benefit is the garden if it is all beauty, yet no fruit. Or worse, fruit that has lost its soul.
All driving down the country road one day…
P.S- Please don’t over interpret this post. I am not saying that all success is evil or anything like that. Please do not take my words out of context.