"I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord" (Hag. 2:17).

     There was an old nursery rhyme that said, "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?"  This is a good question; a question that we all should ask ourselves as "the garden of the Lord".  

     Hail is very destructive to  tender plants, as well as all the diseases that can destroy them such as smut, bunt, rust, and mildew.  It is only the infinite mercy of God that spares the crops so that men will have food to sustain their lives.  Why did the Lord smite?  He tells us why.  He says, "Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.  Why? Saith the Lord of hosts.  Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house" (Hag. 1:9).  God's people (His garden) were more concerned with themselves and what they had, instead of building up His temple, so He blew away all that they were spending their lives and time on.

     Let us consider our ways (Hag. 1:7).  Is the Lord and His people (His garden) our main concern?  Are we working to build "His temple" - ministering to each other, buying back the time from our busy schedule to glorify God, or is it all as nothing in our eyes (Hag. 2:3, Heb. 6:10)?

     The gardener's cure is always the same; it will either kill or cure his plants.  If the fertilizer doesn't work, then comes his removing.

     If branches continually rub against each other they will cause a permanent uncallused wound.  This open wound then can be an entry point for pests and diseases.  The wise gardener will remove one of the branches so as to allow the wound to heal (to callus) on the other.  Some of the Lord's trees are always "rubbing" each other the wrong way.  Their "branches" are always crossing others and causing wounds that aren't healing.  Beware!  The gardener has to remove one branch so that the other can be healed (I Cor. 11:30).

     The Lord says there are seven things that are an abomination to Him; one is he that sows discord among brethren (Prov. 6:19).  If we are continually having problems with our brothers and sisters-in Christ, let us look to our own ways.   Perhaps we are guilty of being a busybody in other people's affairs (I Pet. 4:15).  The Lord says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Gal. 6:7).

      Let us ask our Gardener to teach us how to minister  grace to the hearers of our words so that we shall not have to die (Eph. 4:29-32).