"Surprised by Sprouts" by Amy Duncan

For about the last ten years, I have attempted to grow edible produce at Harvest Hill, the community garden co-sponsored by our church and William Jewell College. Some years I’m more successful than others, but mostly it serves both as a reason to get outside and as a workout that costs less than a gym membership.

Last year I planted cucumber and cantaloupe seeds that never really materialized. Maybe they got caught in a surprise cold snap. Maybe they were old seeds. Maybe I choked them out with too much water or let them languish beneath untended weeds. At any rate, they never appeared.

I must admit that while I sound relatively casual about it now, I was pretty irritated last year. I mean, I mounded the dirt to create the hills to plant the seeds, covered them with mulch, watered them faithfully, and protected them with wire cages. Frustrated by lack of results or reward, I had resolved it was all for nothing.

Imagine my astonishment when three lovely clumps of cantaloupes and cucumbers volunteered their way into my garden this year, right where I was waiting for them last year! 

On a drive home from the garden, I thought about the frustration and then the delight of delayed results. How often do we grow impatient or even give up when we are waiting for “results” or answers from God? How often do we question the validity of effort or experience when the fruits of our labor don’t readily appear? 

We’ve all had the experience of emerging from a time that seemed dark or confusing. We have wondered why God didn’t intervene or why it seemed we were working and waiting with no results. This may be a current situation, or it may be one we can look back on with the understanding of time and perspective. I read once that God is never wasteful. God is always creating and will use every piece of who we are, and what we do, and what we experience. Sometimes we just have to wait for it, and sometimes we are surprised when the pieces come together, and God’s handiwork becomes clear. Isaiah 43:19: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (NIV)

I don’t really know what happened with my seeds, but I imagine that last year the conditions just weren’t quite right. They just weren’t ready to sprout. But the work I did then mattered, and something happened in the long, dark, winter that prepared them to burst forth at just the right moment. The plants are looking strong, and I’m watching to be sure I harvest the fruit at just the right time. It will be worth the wait!