day 884: Growth Gardening

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth"

I like to write on what it takes to get a start-up and seed investment out of and off the ground.  It's not easy and few make it, but there is a pattern that can be followed once you have seen it enough times. That still doesn't guarantee success but at least you aren't just stabbing in the dark.  That pattern is really not that much different than a new idea or initiative in a larger company, it's just that the risk profile is much, much different.  Regardless, anything new needs certain elements to allow it to grow.  Knowing and recognizing what those elements are and then providing them in the right amount and at the right time can make all the difference in the world between success and failure.  It's always worth stopping and asking, "What does this (idea, initiative, person, company, etc.) need right now and tomorrow to make it work (grow)?"  And then, from there, step back and find the right person to provide those things in a way that makes growth happen.  When was the last time we stopped and asked that question and really thought of it as such?  How about today and then we can do a little growth gardening!

I've used the verse above from 1 Corinthians a number of times because in one sentence it say so much to me. In this context we need to remember that no matter what we think we can do as people, that in the end, we are really not "anything" in how something comes together or not.  As Paul says, it is "only God who gives the growth".  How much of our time and energy are we spending on making something grow on our own, when instead we should be turning the growth over to God?  Sure, we need to keep planting and watering the right things in our lives, but then it is His to bring the growth, or not.  I see too many people, myself included sometimes, who are overly consumed with the growth that we think should be happening so we take it into our own hands, only to be frustrated when it doesn't happen as we think it should.  Today, let's let God take over the growth part and let's us get back to the basics and trusting that He knows best for us and will pace the growth for us in His own time, not ours.

Reference: 1 Corinthians 3:7 (New Living Testament)