As a horticultural and agricultural consultant, I field a variety of questions, and it’s fair to say that many of them I don’t know how to answer. If you have spent any time at all working in your yard or garden then you know that questions upon questions arise.
What is that bug? Why is this patch of grass turning brown and the rest of it looks great? Does that shrub always lose its leaves? Will they come back? How do I get rid of squash bugs? Why can’t I grow cilantro… and on and on. So many things affect what is happening, and it can be daunting and frustrating when you’re doing your best to figure it out and you’re just not getting anywhere.
Lawn and garden projects are typically time consuming and can be expensive. I’ve heard people say, “I have spent hundreds of dollars in an effort to save money by growing my own!” That little packet of seeds may have only cost you $2-$3, but you spent a small fortune preparing the necessary conditions to get them to grow and produce. Once you’ve started the project, you’re going to do everything you can to ensure that your plants are taken care of and that they not only survive but thrive.
If your desire and passion is great enough, it will lead you to seek for answers in many places. There are gardening clubs, online forums, and you can spend hours searching on Google and still not find the answers that you are looking for.
Several years ago, I purchased an unusual tomato plant at a farmers market. It grew very tiny tomatoes like I had never seen before. The largest ones may have gotten as big as an English pea, but they were packed with the most intense, old-fashioned tomato flavor that you could possibly imagine. My plant only grew three tomatoes the first year, but I was sure to save a few tiny seeds back and try to grow them again. My future efforts paid off, and in subsequent years I have been able to grow thousands of these “tiny tomatoes.”
I was determined to figure out where they came from and if they were an heirloom or hybrid. Over a seven-year period, I showed the tiny tomatoes to many of my gardening friends, and no one had ever seen anything like them. They loved them. They were novel, and there were many questions about them. I wanted answers!
Through a series of events I was given a gift card to a book store for my birthday, and I used it to purchase a book about tomatoes. In it, I discovered that these “tiny tomatoes” that I grew belonged to a species that originated in the 1500s to 1600s in Peru and Bolivia.
I’m sure everyone has experienced something similar to this. You might not be curious about an unusual tomato plant, but something has nagged at you, and you wanted answers.
We are living in difficult days where confusion prevails. Each of us feel the effects of the shifting sand under our feet, and it seems like the rules to all the familiar games continue to change. Opinions are strong, actions are swift and words are loud. We find ourselves with many questions, and in an effort to find answers, it’s tempting to jump on social media, consult friends or listen to the many voices that are on the Internet.
Matt. 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Instead of hungering for answers that leave you empty and asking more questions, let me encourage you to hunger and thirst for righteousness, and God promises that you will be satisfied. Life did come with an instruction manual—the Bible. We can use it to find true answers.
Today, choose to look only to our Heavenly Father. He loves you and is waiting to answer your most troubling questions and satisfy your deepest needs. Particularly at this time, He wants His children to demonstrate what it looks like to thrive and not just survive!