Don’t Ever Give Up!
“Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.”
(Ecclesiastes 11: 6 NASB)
Some days are just better than others. I think you would agree, and since (some are better & some are “less” than good), we find ourselves appreciating the “better” days more and more.
Go with me into my back yard. See the fence my husband built, separating our yard from the field where my brother’s cattle eatsgrass. Once upon a time, out there in that field of grass, beyond the fence, grew my garden of vegetables. That garden was larger, wider, more fertile, and better producing than my current garden space—until this current growing season. THIS YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER (since my husband declared “your garden is too big; your garden causes you too much back pain;” & “your garden will no longer be ‘there’ because we’re going to sow grass seed where your garden once was”) MY NEW, SMALLER, MORE-MANAGEABLE GARDEN PRODUCED A BOUNTY TO BEHOLD!
When I recall the day my husband took away my original, larger garden space, to say I was devastated—clearly is an understatement.
- I was flabbergasted (such a pleasant-sounding word).
- I was angry. “How did he get to decide?” I questioned.
- I was hurt.
- I was determined to change his mind.
- Nevertheless, I was not successful.
When autumn came that year, the tools for fencing came out of the garage rather than the cover-crop seed that we normally sowed. Rather than a cover-crop of turnips, that autumn my beloved soil lay dormant. When spring came, my husband sowed grass seed on the beloved plat of land, on my once-fertile garden soil. In the garden spot where my sweat, toil, and fingers had dug in the soil for so many past seasons, cows now grazed on the sweet, tender blades of grass.
“Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.
(Ecclesiastes 11: 5-7 NASB)
Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.
The light is [sweetly] pleasant, and it is [pleasingly] good for the eyes to see the sun.”
- Don’t Ever Give Up “for you do not know the path of the wind . . .”
- Don’t Ever Give Up for we don’t understand “how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, . . .”
- Don’t Ever Give Up for we “do not know the activity of God who makes all things.”
- Don’t Ever Give Up for we “do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.”
- Don’t Ever Give Up for we know “The light is [sweetly] pleasant, and it is [pleasingly] good for the eyes to see the sun.”
Don’t Ever Give Up!
Truthfully, we can be mere steps away from reaching our life-goals, and if we give up too early, then all the time, toil, sweat, and tears will be for naught.
When my husband first took away my garden, the devastation almost killed my spirit. I was a bit angry at what he had taken, and when the following spring came and there was no prepared soil where I could plant my precious seed, I audibly bemoaned the fact DAILY to his listening ears. In retrospect, I now realize that my husband built the fence, gave my garden away to my brother’s cattle, and hurt my feelings—BECAUSE HE LOVED ME. My husband lives with me, and in fact, he has lived with me well-over thirty-plus years. To say he knows me, to say he sees me, & to say he cares for me is to speak the TRUTH. You see, I suffer from a bad back, and in my previous garden (the large one beyond the fence where the cattle now graze), my minutes working the soil became hours, and the hours stretched into days. Constantly, I was in that garden: preparing the soil, planting the seed, weeding, tilling, hoeing, watering, watching the tender shoots grow to maturity, and harvesting the produce. All that “doing” led to many long nights of pain. My husband saw it all; his eyes were ever on me.
PONDER—
- Think for a moment about the way our Heavenly Father watches over & cares for us!
- Consider how God places us in a position to be an influence for Him in others’ lives!
- Think about the way Jesus changes our hearts!
- Consider how Almighty God saves us for eternity with Him!
THINK—CONSIDER—REMEMBER & PRAISE HIM!
“Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.
(Ecclesiastes 11: 5-8 NASB)
Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.
The light is [sweetly] pleasant, and it is [pleasingly] good for the eyes to see the sun.
Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all,
and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many.
Everything that is to come will be futility.”
- Our time on earth—AFTER OUR SALVATION—cannot be lived selfishly!
- Our time on earth—AFTER OUR SALVATION—cannot be spent in futility!
- Our time on earth—AFTER OUR SALVATION—cannot be focused on silliness!
- Our time on earth—AFTER OUR SALVATION—must not be walked for any other purpose but HIS!
- Our time on earth—AFTER OUR SALVATION—must not be self-absorbed, for souls are perishing.
- Our time on earth—AFTER OUR SALVATION—MUST BE LIVED GOD-FOCUSED! &
- Our time on earth—AFTER OUR SALVATION—MUST BE WALKED DAILY WITH GOD!
After that first season without a garden, I asked my husband for a “new” garden spot. He helped me by discing up a small part of our backyard. This “garden” was smaller, but more weed-covered, more rock-filled, and less-productive—that first season; however, my back was in less pain. After a few seasons of picking up rocks, tilling the soil, spreading fertilizer, sowing seed, weeding, hoeing, and sweating as I worked out this new garden spot—THIS YEAR GOD PROVIDED A BEAUTIFUL BOUNTY TO BEHOLD!
Daily, God gives us a plat of land to walk, a garden to plant, weeds to pull from our lives that have sprung up, yes, weeds of our sins that hinder the seeds God has given us to sow. Sometimes, our Father even places us inside a brand-new garden to work.
- We must remember—how those who do not know God—watch us until they know HIM!
- We must also recall—how the Bible the lost read—is read by watching us, wondering whether we live in obedience to the FATHER, or not!
- We must consider—the impact we are making, the people we are influencing, & the way God is preparing the hearts of those who are lost and walking in darkness.
Yes, “Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.”
- & So We Must—“Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.”
Don’t Ever Give Up because the LORD never tires & the LORD never sleeps & the Holy Spirit never stops working & the LORD never gives up on saving people’s souls!
“The light [of God]
is [sweetly] pleasant,
and it is [pleasingly] good
for the eyes [of mankind]
to see the sun [the Son of God].”
(Ecclesiastes 11: 7 NASB)