I once managed a community garden that was truly a wonderful place. It was blessed with many talented people, who each contributed to making it one of the most productive and beautiful volunteer gardens I ever worked at. One cold winter day, when the north wind blew strong through its quiet rows, we received some devastating news. The nearby community center was going to be expanded and the footprint for the new building was to be located directly upon the garden. The city was going to break ground on the project in Spring, and we were told to clear the site within the next month. I can still remember how shocked and devastated everyone was. For many, it was a place to be with their friends, others used it to conduct field trips and educational work for local schools and community classes. After twelve years of existence, we were deeply going to miss our shared place of community.
Everyone was too upset to do anything for a few weeks, so the garden just laid dormant. Then in March we came together to meet and decide what was needed to dismantle and decommission the garden. After many minutes of complaint and anguish filled comments, a man stood up and said a very surprising thing. He told us, ” Let’s go ahead and do our normal Spring planting. We should act like nothing is going to happen to this wonderful place. Be optimistic, these city projects often get tied up at City Hall for years and I happen to know that this project has some opposition that will likely force some long delays”. At first, nobody could believe that this might happen, but after much discussion a feeling of optimism began to grow. Within a week we had begun cleaning up the garden and planting the most ambitious effort in all our history. We wanted to show the community and the council just how important and valuable the garden was for our town. To this day, the community garden lives on and remains a blessing to the community.
The prophet Jeremiah once gave a speech similar to the one this man gave to our community garden. He was spending time in the Jerusalem jail for speaking God’s Word to the King of Judah, Zedekiah. Even though the enemy was about to take and destroy the entire city, then lead many of its people into captivity, He told them he was going to do something very odd, but optimistic. He was going to purchase a piece of property, a field to grow crops.. a place to grow a garden. He wanted to make it clear, that even in that dark hour, God was at work. Our Lord God wanted to tell His people that this was not the final chapter of the Jewish nation. He said, ‘be optimistic even when destruction and doom lie at the very door’, because I have a plan and a heart of love for my people. I will someday bring them back to this place and they will live in abundance once again.
Spring 2020 has brought illness and loss that have caused many to lose hope in their future. Some of us have lost loved ones, others have lost their way to make a living. How this all ends up is still quite unclear. But there is one thing that we should never lose, and that is our trust in the love and saving work of Jesus Christ. Remember His promise, “I will never leave you or forsake you”. He is there with us through every trouble and trial that befalls us. Look up to Him and pray, even when there seems to be no hope. Grab ahold of Him with all your strength, and He will give you reason to rejoice, even in times of despair. Jesus will encourage you to carry on with life and to be optimistic, even when it seems everything is going in the wrong direction. Praise be, to our God!