Dear Church Family,

We are certainly praying for the families impacted by the flooding in the Grand Canyon, especially the ones who are part of our Lakeside family. May the Holy Spirit give them the peace that passes understanding. As I reflect on how and why God puts different people in our lives, I wonder if the joy of Heaven will be to discover how we are truly connected. I read this from Chad Bird and thought it might encourage you—

Have you heard of the palm tree that grew from seeds 2,000 years old? Archaeologists at Masada found these ancient seeds, and years later, some were planted. One grew into a palm tree, quite fittingly nicknamed Methuselah.

This is a kind of parable. We never know when the things we do in this life, the seeds we plant, will eventually bear fruit. Maybe it will be in the next generation, or two or three generations down the road.

For some of us, what we do may not produce fruit for 2,000 years.

And that’s fine and dandy, because as Christians, we trust in Christ, who providentially oversees the history of the world. He will take our deeds of love and service, the seeds we sow, and do with them what he sees fit, even if we never see the fruit.

In Psalm 132 David says, “I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord” (vv. 4–5). David wouldn’t even catch some shut-eye until he had done the preparation work for the temple.

Yet David died without seeing even its foundation laid. His work was preparatory for what his son Solomon would accomplish (1 Chron. 28:2–6). David was laboring for the future.

It is no different for us.

We love and serve and work, trusting that God will use the labor of our hands, the seeds we sow, to accomplish what he wants, even though we may never see the fruit.

So whatever our hand finds to do, we do it with all our might (Eccl. 9:10), entrusting our labors to our Father. This frees us to focus upon our vocations and leave the future where it belongs: in the hands of the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16).

We plant the seeds. God gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7).

Press On!

Mark