PANSIES OR TULIPS?

 At this time in the fall, the flowers that my wife, Karen, and I have planted earlier in the year have done their best to bring color and delight to our spring and summer but they are all tuckered out and droopy.  So normally we spend a few days planting some flowers, mainly pansies, which are created by God to provide us some color and brightness throughout the winter that lies ahead.  I am always amused that these flowers carry a name that is often used in derision for a person who cannot hold up under any kind of pressure, yet these beautiful, delicate flowers are at their best when other flowers and plants drop their petals and leaves and hide for the winter.  Pansies show off their toughness when they push their heads through the snow seeking the sun’s approval throughout the harsh winter months. So recently, Karen and I spent a few hours on a Saturday to plant some pansies around the house to allow them time to acclimate in preparation for the freezing temperatures that lie ahead (at least they say they’re coming).

A few years ago Karen and I planted about 60 tulips and we have fallen in love with the beauty that they bless us with every year as they greet the spring. This year I decided to plant 105 more tulips to complement their earlier planted cousin tulips.

As I was digging the 105 holes with my tulip planter tool (which is a great thing to use) I started thinking about the whole gardening thing and the parallels it has on life. This thought process took my mind off my aching back and knees and set me on a higher plane.

Are you planting pansies or tulips?

There is an immediate reward with planting pansies.  You go to your favorite nursery and pick out a pallet or two of your favorite colored pansies which are already in bloom.  You take them home and plant them and you can continue to enjoy their color for the rest of the fall and throughout the winter.

However, in planting tulips you buy a bag or two of ugly looking bulbs and trust the pictures on the bag to be telling you the truth as to what you’re buying.  You take them home and repeatedly (105 times in my case) lean over on your hands and knees digging a six inch hole in the hard ground, removing stones as you dig.  You then add some fertilizer and insert the bulb.  Move other six inches and repeat.  Six inches and repeat until the bag is empty.  Water them down and wait … for several long and anxious months … to see if the fruits of your hard labor are worth it.

So are you a person that invests yourself and your efforts in only immediate gratification in terms of a reward?  If something you’ve spent time and money on doesn’t immediately bloom for you, do you count it as a failure and waste of time and resources? And then do you quickly move on to another ‘flash in the pan’ effort?

Or do you have the foresight to envision the end result, plan for it, prepare for it,  invest hard work and costly capital in it, and then do you have the patience to wait … and wait … and wait until the time is right (of which you have no control).

Now let me put this in terms of ministry.

Do you invest your efforts, time and money on things and events that are expected to bring immediate returns or responses?   Do you plan things and invest in spectaculars that you have to repeat year after year in order to have the same result?

Or are you willing to put in hard work investing in planning and preparing and cultivating only to spend months in hopes of a bountiful reward at a later time?

In ministry, it is not a matter of either/or - it’s both/and. 

There will be times when God will use us to reap immediate benefits and harvests.  When we respond to an evident need, there will be times when lives are eternally changed before our eyes.

But there will be other times when we must spend hours in back breaking, monotonous preparation in hopes that the investment of our efforts and finances will produce a harvest.  Sometimes we will know the timetable  that it takes to get to harvest time.  Other times, we will not be able to see the harvest and can only exercise our faith in God’s timing.

So are you planting pansies or tulips … or both?

THINGS YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN ….

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FOR STUDENT MINISTRY: Disciples Path for students – a new series for developing your student’s discipleship - http://www.lifeway.com/Disciples-Path/Youth/c/N-1z0znzeZ1z141ym?intcmp=DisciplesPath-MTX-Text-Students-20150625

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FOR KIDS MINISTRY: Five things Kids Ministers need to know about parents. http://buff.ly/2dDKyJF

FOR KIDS MINISTRY: TeamKid’s “Catching Air”, the newest cycle is this discipleship bestseller - http://www.lifeway.com/n/Product-Family/TeamKID?intcmp=teamkid-erdr-314