Lessons from the Mold

Ok, this time of year brings out the deepest desire in me to be able to produce a lawn that is nice.  And for me, that is a high goal.  It doesn't have to be  beautiful.  It doesn't have to be the best in the neighborhood.  I just don't want to be embarrassed.  My gardening skills are, to put it nicely, lacking.  I try.  I just don't seem to have that green thumb gifting.  So, I think the Lord, in His mercy, shows me things from time to time while I'm working in the yard, so that my time invested there isn't completely in vain.  

I was clearing out the leaves that had accumulated along a bed where a row of hostas grow in our back yard.  As I raked out the leaves that had settled there over last winter, I also raked away last year's stems and leaves from those hostas.  I noticed that many of the leaves were molded and wet.  I assumed by now they should have died, decomposed and disappeared into the ground.  But these had laid under those leaves, wet, dark and rotting.  I may not be the gardening expert, but I know that moldy leaves don't help plants grow.  They will actually cause disease to the new growth.

My heart wondered if that same process happens in our spiritual lives.  I can't live on last year's provision.  What was good for me in the past, not only is insufficient to sustain me now, but, if I cling to that, it can hamper my growth.  My walk with the Lord is a daily provision.  He knows and provides what I need today, for where I am today.  

And, can I even apply that to our world today?  If we only offer what sustained growth last year, will it be the best we can offer?  How much more if we only offer what was successful 10 years ago?  

So, I gathered up the moldy leaves and left the new hosta sprouts to breathe fresh air.  And I prayed, Lord, don't let me dwell in last year.  Keep me close to You for what You have for me today.  And as part of Your Church, let me be attentive to what You want to happen today to reach the world around me for You.