A Lesson in Trust

 The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. … The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher and he gives the farmer great wisdom. 

– Isaiah 28:26, 29

    Today, I want to testify of the goodness, patience, and mercy of my God. Last year, as I sought the Lord's wisdom with our garden, He told me to not replant those seeds that had failed to germinate, had been eaten by pests (we have many), or had rotted in the soil. I was to trust that He could and would still provide a harvest for us. Well, that was 2020 and though I had faith in the Lord, I was still in the "what if" mindset. What if the shelves were still scarcely stocked at the store? What if I lose even the last of what has sprouted? I became fearful and I admit, I didn't trust that still small voice because my sinful flesh kept telling me it was okay to replant. Go ahead and replant while it was still early in the season, that's what you've always done and that's just what farmers do - they replant their little gardens until everything is good and before the season becomes too late for planting. 

    I replanted, guiltily knowing that the Lord said to trust Him. I replanted only to have the same thing happen, being left with just a few, if any sprouts. I replanted up to four times, running out of seed with the same thing happening each time. I conceded defeat and told the Lord I was sorry for not listening and trusting Him with the garden. Well, the stuff that did grow, grew and produced - but not without a price to pay. Squash bugs came and decimated my squashes, zucchini, and pumpkins. I got maybe two or three squash total. Blight and fungus destroyed my melons and cucumbers. I got just a few cucumbers before the vines died and zero melons. Every melon was stunted, misshapen, and rotted before it was ripe. My tomatoes hardly put out and were about the same as the melons. 

    I tried praying, I tried sprays and additives....my punishment was enacted. I was reminded about the time in Numbers 14, when the Israelites were afraid to go into battle with the Amalekites and Canaanites, so the Lord punished them. Then they said, "Okay, we'll go to battle against the Amalekites." The Lord said, "Don't do it because you didn't trust Me the first time." They did it anyways and were severely defeated. I recognized my garden failure as chastisement by the Lord, but me in my weakness still tried to resist it in a panic. However, once I had truly repented and resolved myself to truly surrender my garden to Him, not just say I that I am... that's when the forgiveness and mercy came. 

    Of what was left, He gave me an abundance: okra, lima beans, and black-eyed peas. We had so much, we were losing some to rot from sitting in the basket too long! We'd cook some for a neighbor, give some to others, freeze more....In His great mercy and love through discipline, the Lord cared enough to teach me just what it means to trust Him in ALL things, including gardening. Fast forward to this year, and I was faced with the same struggle, the same temptation. Even though I had that previous year fresh in my memory, I still battled against my weak flesh. I planted my seeds in my little greenhouse and fought a war. To sum it up in a war allegory: I fought and won ground, I fought and lost ground, I would rush forward in victory, I'd fall back wounded and bleeding. 

    With my seedling starts in the greenhouse: where I didn't reseed, there was an over abundance of healthy growth. Where I reseeded, lack. It was a true battle in my mind and one you would think would be easier this year since the experience the previous year. Time then came for me to do transplants and in-ground sowing. I prayed to the Lord that I desperately wanted to surrender to Him and that even though I was wounded and bleeding from the battle, I would trust in Him. To please give me strength because I KNOW that He WILL provide, if only I trust in Him. So, I started to listen. 

    Days passed and I noticed planted seeds were repeating what happened last year with the pests, the rot, etc.... It was an immense struggle, but I again told the Lord this time, this time, I will trust. I asked Him simply to just show me that He is trying to help me with learning this whole gardening thing. To just show me that with but a few black eyed pea vines, He can produce the equivalent of an entire two rows worth of vines (what I had originally planted). I wasn't testing God so much as I was just trying to make sense of the battle and yearning to know that He is indeed trying to help me grow my own food (as well as spiritually). Look at the picture below to see His response. 

    Within but a couple of weeks, my garden looked like that. My few remaining black eyed pea vines (that were originally 2 dozen) now fill out the fence almost completely on both rows. And not only those but everything I'm growing in that garden is larger and more than I've ever grown. Usually I only have morning glories growing along my fence, now they fill the garden with their dazzling array of jewels, my favorite flower. I surrendered and trusted in the Lord, and He proved (without really needing to) that when we listen to Him and trust, He will provide. Yes, we fertilized and sprayed and did preventative measures for pests. But, so also have we always done that, case in point last year.... It was not our normal yearly garden routines...it was God. 

    He could have honored my request and just shown out with the black-eyed peas, but instead He showed out in that entire garden to where I have plants literally busting through the fence in desperation for more room! A never before occurrence I assure you. And granted now, the summer growing season is making its way out and now some of my stuff is starting to slow down (having passed the peak on some things), I am still in awe of everything the Lord has done. And I believe He's not done yet... 

    I admit that I am embarrassed to admit such a weakness of trust in God publicly. I am quick to say trust in the Lord when it comes to persecution, crisis, and heartbreak. But, I had not truly surrendered to the Lord with the little things, the mundane, the hobby, the household, etc.... I have not been officially taught how to garden, only watched and observed others on my own, learning through trial and error, and picked up hints and tips along the way. I am still learning. When we dedicated our garden to the Lord, I got serious about wanting Him to teach me. He is the Creator of the very creation I am a part of, how could I not find a better teacher than Christ, Who spoke the Word and things became!? So of course it took but a summer to show me where my faith is weak, to truly put my trust to the test. 

    I honestly think, if the Lord had not chastised me, I would still be doing the same thing today. Even in the spring, just trying to start my seeds inside the greenhouse, the battle was fierce. If it is a struggle to trust the Lord in the little or insignificant things, how much harder do you think it will be with the big? With these va## ine (altered for censorship) mandates, deceptions, abominable ingredients and practices that are increasingly persecuting those of us who follow Jesus... everything is pointing to it having a prominent role in ushering in the Antichrist and his Mark - be it the mark itself or the foundation of it. 

    The Holy Spirit spoke clearly to me in 2017. We had been staunch innoculators, getting the flu shot, the kid's scheduled shots, etc...on time each year. But, in 2017, the Lord told me to stop and not get another jab. I asked why? Why Lord? Within the next week or two, I suddenly kept seeing articles and resources exposing the abominable ingredients in most vazzes (altered for censorship). They are made using aborted fetal cells, donated human cells (think dead people), and even animal DNA. All of which are an abomination to the Lord and His Word expresses as such. We should never allow our blood, in which our life is contained, to be defiled with such things - much less the heavy metals and toxins they include in those sorceries (it is what it is). If you want to do your own research do your own research. I warn you though, you will have to pray and fast about it because the CDC, the pharmaceutical companies, and the powers that be are deleting their very own ingredients from the labels, research papers on the subject by their  doctors, and information on their website. They are gaslighting us now on a major scale and I have seen it (along with others) with my own eyes. 

    But, I digress....the Holy Spirit, when revealing to me the deadly and wicked nature of vazzes, told me as plain as day: "If you can't say no to the jab (He said va##---1ne), then why do you think you'll be able to say no to the Mark of the Beast?" It was a simple question, but a deep one with serious implications. When we lose family, jobs, homes, even churches because of this wicked coo-vv11D va## ine (again, altered for censorship), can we trust the Lord? Are we so firmly rooted in Jesus, that even though it cost us everything, can we trust Him enough to tell our doctors, our employers, our family, our government...no? 

    It's important and urgent NOW that we learn to surrender everything to the Lord. Surrender your home, family, job, ministry, church fellowship, even your chores and hobbies. Some teach that we shouldn't bother the Lord with trivial human activities and only come to Him with crises and spiritual battle. I can't tell you how wrong this is! I have seen time and time again, how much God cares even for the little things. If He cares enough to teach me a lesson about trust using a vegetable garden, how much so will He care about the big things such as providing for His people when we are persecuted for not getting a vazz (altered for censorship)? Is there something in your life that you need to surrender to the Lord and trust Him with? No matter how great or small, I'm here to testify that you CAN trust Him. And, that He is merciful and forgiving if we mess up in weakness - when we repent truly and strive to resist the devil. I testify of the Lord's goodness! 

    Our time is coming to a close soon, of being able to make the choice of God or Beast? Those who have already caved in and gotten the jab, will have to work hard to rebuild that trust in the Lord. They will be the ones who have a very difficult, if not impossible time choosing Christ when the Antichrist demands his worship and his mark. Again, if you couldn't say no to a jab, why do you think you'll say no to the mark? If you cave into pressure with the jab that many of you have been warned about, why do you think you'll be stronger then? I am not condemning those of you who have gotten it, especially those who are ignorant of its origins and ingredients (please research it!). I am warning you to seek the Lord now in repentance, true repentance. Take a fast and spend that time in earnest prayer: that the Lord forgive you, that He cleanse you and purify you of the defiling poison, and that His will be done concerning any side effects (short or long term) you may have to endure. And ask the Lord to give you strength to say no to the devil and his strategies from here on out. It is crucial that all of us pray for this! Jesus said that in the end, it would be possible that even the elect be deceived. We have to strengthen our trust and build our faith in the Lord. (Matthew 24)   

   I still struggle with my thoughts of will He bring people to our little house church to fellowship with? He said He would, so why would He not follow through? Yes, we have to wait, but we will trust in Him. He said we'd be a place of refuge, where the hungry and thirsty, the sick and the scared, could come and be filled, nourished, and refreshed. I trust that He WILL bring it to pass, especially as I see midnight inching ever closer and the great persecution of the saints who refuse the Beast and his Mark, drawing nearer and nearer. But you know, He has given us proof of this too - in the ever-reminding form of a homeless young man. I struggle with all sorts of doubt, doubt that challenges the faith I cling to. Don't we all!? If you don't, you're fooling yourself. But the message I want you to glean today is not that I wanted to brag on my garden or our calling, and not to harp on the jab again. My message is that you can trust the Lord with everything, you HAVE to trust Him. And you have to be willing to surrender and obey as part of that trust. You can have faith, but struggle with trust. You can have hope, but struggle with doubt. It is something that we will struggle with until it is all over, whether through the Lord's glorious return or the day our bodies succumb to death. 

    I'm saying trust the Lord, surrender even the small things, seek Him, listen to Him, and obey Him. If He says your garden will grow abundantly if you don't replant everything, trust Him! If He says to prepare food and water, medicine and clothing, for the people He will send to you and to only do "x" amount....then trust and obey Him! Everything He tells us to do is to glorify Him, not us. Our preparing for the days ahead is not so we survive, but so He can be glorified through us. And I assure you, with the Word to back me up, the Lord will never give you a spirit of fear regarding the things to come. (2 Timothy 1:7) We are not to fear man, plague, pestilence, or even persecution. We are to fear the Lord and obey Him, for He holds us in His hands. So do not "prep" out of fear, only do so if led to. Don't flee the cities out of fear, only do so if led to. We are living for Him and we will die for Him, don't deny it and make your life full of vain fear. (Matthew 5:11-12)

May we all seek the Lord today and surrender our calling, our family, our life.... trusting in Him no matter the cost, the doubt, the struggle. 

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.

- James 5:7