God Is Not Mocked.

Lately, I have taken gardening as a hobby again. Yes, this will probably be the 87^th time I give it a go. This time, it feels somewhat different. I guess the reason is that in previous times I tried gardening for the “wrong” reasons. I want to just grow some vegetables and sell them. Fundamentally, there’s nothing wrong with this, hence I wrote “wrong” in the apostrophes. But with that mindset, I just wanted the vegetables to grow so that I could sell them. This time, it is different.

This time, I am more intentional with the gardening. This time, I'm taking my time with every aspect. Before planting my seeds, I made sure that the soil was ready. Before, the seeds would be planted and watered, and that was that. Not this time.

This time, I took the time to study what kind of soil is in the yard and did my reading about which compost to get. Following the instructions on the back of the compost (and the guidelines on online forums), I mixed the compost with the soil. To cut the story short, this time around, I made it a point that not only will I yield a crop, but I’ll yield the biggest of my gardening journey.

But you see, lately I have had a new appreciation of time. Unlike before, when I planted seeds, the idea was that I planted the seed and waited for harvest time so that I could sell the plants. Yes, water the seeds, turn the soil and conduct maintenance work as the seed germinates and grows. Yet, I’d not pay much attention to the process.

One of my favourite scriptures from the Holy Bible is that God is not mocked, you reap what you sow. This new approach I have towards gardening is allowing me to have a deeper understanding of that scripture reading.

For the longest time, I’d take it on a surface level. God is not mocked; you reap what you sow. So if one sows apples, one should not expect oranges. If one sows oranges, one should not expect apples. The scripture, for the longest time, just provided me with the Biblical evidence that you get in life what you give. And that’s where the lesson of the scripture would end. But now, taking the time to study how seeds germinate, grow and so forth, I am beginning to learn a new lesson from the scripture.

You can do everything in your power to grow your seed. You can buy the right compost, the right fertiliser, sow the seeds at the right time of the year, but at the end of the day, nothing can guarantee that your sow will grow.

There are three trees that I purchased. I actively prepared the soil with the right compost for the trees. For the past few months, I have been adding the right amount of water and fertiliser for the trees. Out of the 3 trees that were planted, only 2 seem to be showing good growth, while 1 isn’t. Ironically, it is the one dead centred between the two growing ones.

You see, this reminds us that after all, God is not mocked. That first statement is forgotten when quoting this scripture. God is in the omnipresent super being, not God as the human figure that humans have made him. God is the ether, the life force of existence, not this man with a long white beard in the clouds that humans have made him to be.

God is not mocked, so when I observe these 3 trees and try to study why 2 grow and 1 does not seem to grow, what could be the issue? I mean, all three trees were getting the same treatment. All three were given the same conditions to live in. But why would one not grow like the other two?

I went to Google. Google told me that the tree isn’t really dying but getting too much sun. Interestingly enough, the other two trees were getting partial shade as opposed to this one, which was getting no shade at all. This one slight difference in the environment of these trees was turning this tree yellow, while the others were growing with full, beautiful green leaves.

So you see, sometimes we can be in the right conditions, and yet we won’t grow because the environment, holistically, is not for us to be in. This provided more context for why I wasn’t happy in my previous place of employment.

On the surface level, it had all the right conditions. The pay structure rewarded hard work, the hours were very flexible, the policies were designed to develop employees, and those who left the organisation usually left at an academic level higher than when they started. These work conditions, we could argue they were ideal for the young professional. Yet for me, it was hell on Earth.

Because among these positives of the workplace, I found the place toxic. I found the place superficial with colleagues who were emotionless. They had the typical corporate, “dog-eat-dog” mentality. I might be a no-nonsense person, but an emotionless environment is not one for me.

I am an introvert, this is true, but it was the first workplace where I had no one I could trust. It just felt like every person could stab you in the back. As ideal as the conditions were for the young professional developing their career the place offered, the environment for me was suffocating.

Like this tree, those around me seemed to grow and thrive while I was hanging on my last nerves, literally just to survive. God is not mocked; the God entity that allows me to breathe and be alive could not live in that environment. Therefore, whatever seed that I tried to plant in that environment, this God entity in me that gives me life could not be mocked, and so, they all died.

When thinking about this scripture now, indeed, you reap what you sow, but the first part of the scripture is slightly more important. When talking about God, I am referring to the entity that gives us life. God is not mocked, so we cannot give this entity that gives us life with something that will kill us. Perhaps this is why I was losing my mind at my previous workplace. My God entity was actively refusing the seed I was planting with that workplace because God, that which gives us life, is not mocked.

God, the entity that gives us life, will not be mocked with seeds that will suffocate our souls. Regardless of whether the right conditions may be for others. Like this single tree I’ve planted. The excess sun that it receives compared to the other two trees is preventing it from growing. The indifference and the lack of real human interaction from my previous workplace were preventing me from growing.

And best believe I tried. I was always lending an extra hand. I planned a faculty picnic and funded the activity with my own money. I initiated a soccer club, and in its infancy, I funded the initial equipment with my own money. I never expected a standing ovation or anything for my efforts, really. But that insincere gratitude, that “you are expected to go beyond your job description” attitude from my colleagues, that is what broke me. Yes, my academic manager and campus manager always pointed out how they appreciate my efforts, but how my fellow team members (most of them) showed a great deal of indifference to me, that is what broke me.

That’s what made me realise why some individuals would say that indifference is the true opposite of love. So if God is love, indifference is the Devil. If God is the entity that gives life, the Devil is the entity that takes it away. So if God is love, love is the entity that gives life, the Devil being indifference, indifference is the one that takes away.

God is not mocked, so God would not allow that indifference to take away my life. This lesson only became apparent now that I am taking the time to really learn gardening. The latter statement of the scripture, “you reap what you sow”, is only possible if you do not mock God, the entity that gives you life.

God is not mocked; you reap what you sow. If we were to write this scripture in a way that attempts to unpack the wisdom in it, we would say that God will not allow anything that kills it to grow within you, regardless of what it is. But God will only allow what enables it to live, and God will then allow it to grow in you. What you sow, if it is not that which gives you life, it will not grow. But if it gives you, that which you sow you will have the luxury to reap from it.

This lesson has become apparent to me thanks to my new approach to gardening. I believe that as we continue in this new approach, more of the scripture will begin to make sense to me. After all, indeed God is not mocked, you will reap that which you sow.