Hard Ground

"Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen?" Amos 6:12

Good morning, dear friends!

In spite of the cold, and in spite of the wind, I have hopes that THIS will be the week.  What week is that, you might ask?

Spring planting.

I have been watching as the sales flyers come in my mailbox. Beautiful, delicate little flowers, sturdy hedges, climbing vines and ground creepers are all calling my name.

I love this time of year, when winter's grip leaves the ground, and I can finally start acting on my winter's plans and dreams.  So, it's time to grab the pickaxe and start planting.

Pickaxe?

Yup.

SIGH

When we had this house built, I was already dreaming of a garden:  lots of pretty flowers, hedges, trees, even a vegetable garden.  Little did I know at the time that the house plans were being drawn up, that there would be just one problem to this dream.

We were building our house on a slab of limestone, with just a thin layer of topsoil thrown over top.  Anything that we wanted to plant, was going to be a challenge.

When we arrived, in my naivité, I said, "Ok, I'll just get rid of the rocks, and then it will be fine."  That's a great idea, in theory, except that the more we dug out the rocks, the more rocks appeared.  Instead of a shovel to work the ground, we had to use a pickaxe instead.  As soon as one area was ready to plant, the rain stopped, and the ground got hard again.  Back to the starting board.

Many days of breaking up the ground, hauling rocks, and working the dirt helped me to have many moments to think about God's Word, and dirt.

I thought about the parable Jesus told His followers in Matthew 13, about the different types of ground.  I could relate to all types.  When we arrived, our house was built on a former colza field, so before anything else could be planted, we had to uproot the colza, so that it would not choke out the seed I wanted to plant.  Then there were the rocks, everywhere.  Some were just under the surface of good dirt, so that my best planting efforts were in vain.  The rocks had to go.  How thankful I was for the few patches of good dirt, where I could just reach in my shovel and go to work.

But my labors begged the question:  Who (besides me) would willingly be crazy enough to try and plant something useful in rocks?

My husband preached this Sunday on a passage in Amos 6, where this question is asked:  "Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen?"  There is a lesson here to be learned.  Is it worth the time or effort to plow among rocks?

Probably not, unless...

God used this passage to speak to my heart about our work here in France.  There is no easy mission field to labor in this world.  Yes, there are areas of the world where people are more receptive to the gospel.  (France does not happen to be one of them.) The receptive hearts, like fertile soil in my garden, are few and far between.    How does one even begin to teach, or help to plant, in hearts as hard as concrete?

A lot of plowing.  A lot of rain.  A lot of perseverence.

The increase?  Not my problem.  Just the sowing.

I am so thankful that God does not command me to make things grow.  I have a notorious brown thumb, and many plants that are left to my care just don't do that well.  But I can plant.  I can water.  And I can trust the only one who can to keep my plants alive, to bring the fruit.

Witnessing for God in France is a slow and painstaking process.  There are many years of tradition that must be uprooted, many years of false teaching hardening hearts, many years of good ground lying fallow because the hearts have not been plowed up.  The work is literally all around me, if I would not be faint of heart today.

How will I make a difference for eternity today?  By getting out my plow, and going to work.

Will it be difficult?  Definitely.  Will I get discouraged as things don't progress as quickly as I might like?  Probably. Does that mean I should quit, or change fields?  Absolutely not.

Just keep plowing.

The next time I am daunted by the task in front of me, may the Lord help me to remember my garden.  After almost ten years of painstaking labors, I have a tree (small that it is), bushes, hedges, roses, bulbs and assorted flowers in my garden.  Yes, it was a lot of hard work, and there is still much to be done, but at least it's a start.

May I be faithful today to keep working the ground of people's hearts, so that others may be touched by God's amazing love, and begin to grow as well.