I’ve had the amazing opportunity of doing so many different kinds of ministry this year. I’ve taught English, done door to door ministry, bar ministry, babysat, preached, put on VBS, and office work. Well this month we finally got a taste of manual labor, and when I say taste, I mean six hours a day. Our teams are split between different projects: building orphanages, painting, and gardening. My team jumped at the chance to do gardening picturing ourselves dancing in fields of flowers and planting and harvesting colorful vegetables. We should have known better.
Day one, we were given pick axes and several other tools we didn’t recognized. We spent the next two weeks literally tilling and plowing the Earth by hand. Checking for splinters and popping blistered became a real daily thing. Our backs, arms, legs, everything hurt just about every second of the day. Going to bed, we had this amazing since of accomplishment and relief. And every morning we had to pump ourselves up to go back out there and add to our blister collection. But don’t feel too bad for us, because this is The World Race, and we are becoming pretty good at making anything fun. So we danced and sang and made our own reality show. All in all, it wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t what we were expecting. Until today.
Today, we finally, finally, got to plant seeds. Herbs, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, peas, carrots, and onions seeds are deep down in our finally tilled soiled. And we should even get to see some sprouts before we leave. Finally.
I’ve been asking God to show himself to me in small ways. I seem him in big ways: in the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, when a squadmate gets baptized in The Holy Spirit, and the time God gave me wifi while living in the middle of nowhere to find out a best friend just got engaged. I see God so very easily in those moments this month. But I want to see him in the daily ordinary times too.
As we were watering those seeds, something so ordinary and small, God showed up.
It occurred to me that I was literally planting and watering seeds today. We talk about this all of the time figuratively. We look for the fruit of our labor, stories to tell supporters back home about. But when we don’t see it, we settle with the explanation that maybe we are just here to plant or water seeds (1 Corinthians 3). It’s not a bad thing, but it’s not something I usually get excited about. I rejoice when I get to see someone accept Christ or get healed, but I hardly ever rejoice over a good conversation or an unanswered prayer. I try to believe that it’s okay, but I’m sometimes not satisfied with the answer that I’m just watering.
But today I found myself rejoicing over it. In the midst of filling up the watering can, it began to rain. “Look, God is doing our job for us today” one of my squadmates said. We laughed and took a break until God was done.
A few moments later I found myself watering our freshly planted seeds alone praising God for this opportunity. Then it hit me. I praised him because for weeks we have all been waiting for this moment of planting seeds, and here I was getting to do the next step and watering them. He picked me. He allowed me. He gave me the sacred task. I wasn’t going to see this fruit. I wouldn’t get to pick it or cook it. I don’t even know the person who’s going to eat it. But I was so excited to be a part of something bigger. Something I had a role in will last long after I leave, even if I never see the fruit of my labor.
But the thing is, I don’t praise God when I get to do this in real life. I roll my eyes or get disappointed that he doesn’t allow me to see or harvest the fruit. But the reality is that God doesn’t need me. Just like he made it rain so I didn’t have to water the apple trees, he could do all of the spiritual watering by himself. But he lets me apart of it. He gives me the sacred task. Everyday.
We’ve spent the month making gardens so orphans and widows can have food to eat. He let me fulfill his work by taking care of the orphans and widows in such a cool way. What an incredible honor and blessing. This month I get to plant and water seeds. I actually get to do this everyday; I guess it’s just more obvious when your hands are covered in dirt.
