The sign at the door of the Grove Nursing Home in Thurnscoe says ‘to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.’ This is a place which cares for the sick and elderly, including those suffering from dementia. It is a challenging place to visit, for it is a place where people often seem to be just existing, rather than living, a place where life can seem very pointless. Yet the love, care and hope which radiate from that place are inspirational.
It can be difficult to believe in tomorrow at times when today is ‘cumbered with a load of care.’ It requires faith to believe God can change situations and give us a bright future when adversity, pain, suffering and old age frame today.
Just as to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow – for when first planted, the garden looks barren and insignificant, nothing like the flurry of colour and fruitfulness which will later emerge – so too Jeremiah acted out a parable of faith when he bought the field at Anathoth from his cousin Hanamel before the exile of Israel (Jer 32:1-25). Jeremiah knew the exile was coming and would last a whole generation (seventy years), but he also trusted in a God whose purposes were great and whose deeds were mighty. (Jer 32:19) He was secure in the past miracles of God and knew these continued in the present. (Jer 32:20-21) He knw that despite the message of judgment he brought to God’s people, God’s plans were still positive (Jer 29:11) and that the new covenant relationships was one where ‘they will be my people and I will be their God.’ (Jer 32:38) In essence, Jeremiah believed in tomorrow because he knew God’s heart. He knew that fields would once again be bought (Jer 32:43-44) and that God would restore HIs people’s fortunes. (Jer 32:44)
The simple act of buying a field spoke volumes. There is always hope in God.