A Persistent Tree

Last year I planted some Moringa seeds on our land in an area that was pretty rocky. There isn't much good soil on our land, so I thought I would just try and plant the trees and see if anything would come up. Well some of the trees started growing, but because of the heat and the rocky soil, most died. Those that survived were very stunted.

Well this year when I came back to that same plot, I found many Moringa trees growing. Some were even over three feet tall. The picture above is of a persistent little tree that kept growing even thought it was under a huge rock!

The rains have started in Mundri over the last two days (Praise God!), so I am back in that section of our land weeding, removing rocks, and creating rain barriers so that the rain doesn't just wash over the trees but the water will collect and soak into the ground near the trees.

I know very little about agriculture, but I'm experimenting with herbs this year and trying to revive the Moringa trees I planted last year. I am even trying my hand at transplanting some things Larissa grew last year that are growing too close together.

Parable of the Sower

As I have been trying to revive the Moringa trees, I have been reflecting a bit of the parable of the sower and other agricultural parables.

Mark 4:5-6 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

I sowed sees last year on rocky soil because that was the soil I had and just as Mark 4 says the plants were scorched and withered because they had no root.

Moringa trees are known to tolerate poor soil and the seeds planted last year were still in the ground. Even while I was away for five months and the ground was unattended, the tree still kept trying to grow.

Mark 4: 26-29 “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

God is growing his Kingdom and God brings rain and grows the plants and provides food. Too often I am filled with pride and think that I am the one growing the Kingdom. I may not say it aloud, but if I search my heart, those thoughts are there. If I am not filled with pride because I believe I am the one growing the Kingdom, then I am crushed when I think the Kingdom isn't growing because I am getting my worth from success in ministry. I so often act like orphan instead of a beloved child of God.

Well now I am here to try and assist the Moringa trees in growing. I don't really know what I am doing, but I'm trying to remove the barriers like thorny trees and rocks, and I'm giving the trees water when it doesn't rain.

Mark 4:16-19 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Looking at the end of the parable of the sower, the seeds sown on rocky ground fall away, but perhaps if God has His servants at work digging up the rocks and removing the thorny trees, God will grow even the seeds sown on rocky soil.