Working for the Lord

"I sent you to reap what you have not worked for." 

- John 4:38

I have three Spirea in my garden.  They all have blossoms but only one is spectacularly full of blossoms this year.  I counted at least eight bees flitting from flower to flower.   I think it must be because it gets more sun than the other two.  This photo is one of the few not blurry.  That is because this bee was lingering on the flower.  Its legs are wrapped around a petal as it hangs from the blossom.

My walk in the garden this morning made me think of today's Our Daily Bread.  Amy Boucher Pye wrote these thoughts: "[God] lets us enjoy the fruits of someone else's labors....we may plant seeds that we will never harvest but someone else may....He has all of the resources for a bountiful harvest, and we are privileged to play a role in it."  The bee did not plant the seed that grew the plant that I bought and put in the ground, which the sun and water that God provided made grow.

There are seasons in our life when we will plant and not reap what we planted and when we will reap what we have not planted.  Therefore, we should focus on the work that God gives us to do, rather than looking for results.  When we are yielded to God we can take pleasure in knowing that our work is pleasing to the Lord--that is our reward.  And in the process, while others are reaping from our work, we will reap from theirs.  When each of us works for the Lord we can leave the results to Him.

I am grateful that I can trust God to give me what I need.