Springtime has arrived, and with it an abundance of rain. That is not always true in the area where I live, but it has been for the last several years, and the trend has continued in 2023. I know my garden is thriving. I planted tomatoes, green beans, sugar snap peas, strawberries and several varieties of squash. The plants are all looking good and thriving.

I still find the process amazing. I take some dead looking seeds and bury them. I wait a week or so and sprouts appear. And they grow. And a little later they bear fruit. It was not because of anything I did, but because of the way God made things.

Mark 4:28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.

We have learned how to grow the things we need to feed and nourish our bodies. But it would not happen if God had not made it that way and if He did not continue to take care of us. There are more than a few references in the Old Testament of God’s ongoing care in sending us rain so that the crops will grow.

Deuteronomy 11:14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil.

Isaiah 30:23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows.

My wife grew up in a congregation filled with farmers, and the first congregation I served in Oklahoma had several farmers in it. Those folks have an appreciation for how God’s care and control are evident in the way He made and still orders things in this world.

The one who did all this is the same one who made everything in the universe and is still in control. And He is also the same one who was not content that man’s sin would separate us from Him forever. So He took care of that by coming down here Himself, lived as one of us, took our guilt and shame on Himself in order to pay for it with His perfect life, and opened the way for us to be forgiven and live with Him forever in paradise.

I am reminded of God’s goodness when I see my plants sprout up and when I harvest from them. And I am reminded that He has provided for all my needs, including my forgiveness and salvation.

Ephesians 3:20–21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.