A Christian Writer’s “Victory Garden”

My neighbor and I were doing some yard work on opposite sides of the driveway the other day, and got to chatting about our respective gardening plans. I told him what my parents had planted in the raised beds, and he told me about his new strawberry plants. He made the comment, “Our President says we’re in a war, so I planted a victory garden.”

The idea intrigued me, and I began to think about the victory gardens planted during the Second World War. The idea was that by turning lawns, flowerbeds, and any other available patch of land into food-producing gardens, the gardeners made a significant contribution to the cause of victory. In the days of food shortages and rationing, a kitchen garden was not only a help --it was often a necessity. And with every seed planted, the gardeners felt themselves one more step towards victory.

Now, whatever your views and opinions concerning our President, I have to say that when he mentioned that fighting this virus is basically like fighting a war against an unseen enemy, he summed up how many people were feeling. For the Christian, it is doubly so, because we are not just fighting the spread of a virus; we are in fact fighting against Satan’s attempts to use this crisis to derail any progress we might be making in our walk with the Lord. Whether through worry, fear, or anything else, Satan wants to get our eyes off God and onto circumstances. He wants to get our hearts and minds so distracted that we have no time or energy to focus on what God has for us to be learning and doing during this time.

And we have to fight. Not in our power, of course, because as Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5) But the fact that we need God to help us fight doesn’t mean it won't still be a fight. We are told to “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) A preacher I heard once said that this means we are to say “yes” to God, and when we say “yes” to God, we will say “no” to the devil.

This fight is different than the fight against the Coronavirus, because our spiritual war has already been won. Jesus has already won our final victory, and we can read about what Satan’s end will be in Revelation 20. 

As I Peter 2:24 says of Jesus: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” That is the victory He has won for us: victory over sin.

So what does a spiritual victory garden look like? It will look different for each one of us, since God has different "seeds" He wants sown during this time. The point of a victory garden was to produce fruit, and a spiritual victory garden is a decided and prolonged effort to produce fruit for God's kingdom, either in our own lives or the lives of those around us. Perhaps God wants you to be memorizing verses so you can confidently share the gospel with others. Maybe it is a skill God wants you to learn which He intends to use for His glory later on. Or perhaps it is a seed of character He wants planted in your own heart; a lesson learned now to prepare you for the next step in your Christian growth. Whatever it is, now is the time to be planting.

 I don’t know how better to illustrate than to tell you about my own victory garden, which has to do specifically with writing, but the principle is still applicable even if you aren’t a writer.

When the pandemic quarantine began, I was disappointed as plans were postponed indefinitely and even church was cancelled. As I began to try to adjust to this stay-at-home way of life, I was struck early on by the thought that God had a purpose for me during this time, and that it was no accident that I was faced with extra time at home just as writing was becoming a major part of my life. I knew God wanted me to use this time to develop my writing skill and to make progress on the different writing projects I had begun.

That was when I began to plant seeds in my writer's victory garden. I began a challenge of writing 500 words a day for 30 days, and carefully thought about how I was using my time. I listened to audio books and podcasts as I worked at tasks that didn’t require much mental exertion, and I started in on my substantial “to be read” pile, giving first priority to the two books I had bought about writing, but hadn’t had time to read yet.

I also thought seriously about what kind of schedule I wanted to keep to prepare me for the summer. I had already decided to treat writing just like a job during my summer break, and teaching from home via online lessons has given me the chance to get myself into a regular at-home schedule. Now that I’m in a routine, it is getting much easier to sit down and write when it’s time, and that summer schedule is looking more and more possible. I'm also learning important lessons and growing in my walk with God even more, since I have been focusing more on my relationship with Him, as the source from which I want my writing to flow.

To tend this victory garden of new skills, new habits, and new knowledge, I will have to weed out distractions and things that sound fun, but would eat into the time I need to use for writing. I will need to keep my mind well-watered by continuing to read and learn, first and foremost by immersing myself in Scripture, but also by soaking up all the knowledge I can about my subject matter, as well as about the writing craft itself. I will also need to keep out the “pests” of worry, fear, and self-reliance that will eat up my productivity.

And hopefully, by the end of the summer, my little victory garden will be bearing fruit, whether in finished projects, skills honed for further use, or simply in my own heart’s victory over the temptation to misuse this gift of time God has given me.

"But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

I Corinthians 15:57