This weekend, we traveled to Corpus Christi to celebrate our son’s birthday. Well, that was the official reason. The real reason was to get our hands on our newborn granddaughter.
Knowing I’d spend the day with our kids and then drive four-plus hours home, I needed to make time for some reading. So I woke up early Saturday and went downstairs to the hotel lobby.
There was only one other person there. Breakfast was still being set up. And the Weather Channel was the background noise.
I wasn’t paying much attention until I heard something that sounded familiar.
I was reading about innovation in the church. One of the images was nurturing saplings. That is, planting something new, tending it carefully, and giving it room to become what it might become.
At almost that exact moment, an apple farmer appeared on television. He explained that some trees produce more fruit than others. The same orchard can receive the same rain, sunshine, and care, yet individual trees respond differently.
Then he said something like, “That’s why we plant more than one tree.”
I put my book down, and thought, "That’ll preach."
We spend a lot of energy trying to find the one thing that will work. We're looking for the perfect ministry, idea, plan, or opportunity. We plant one tree and stare at it, almost demanding to see apples.
But Jesus talked about seeds scattered everywhere. Some never took root. Some started growing and didn’t last. Some grew and produced thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.
The sower kept sowing.
Our faithfulness doesn't know beforehand which tree will bear the most fruit. So, we don't let one struggling sapling convince us to stop planting.
Try something. Tend something. Learn something.
And leave enough room in your orchard for God to surprise you.
Stay blessed...john
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