"Life's a garden, dig it."

I worked at a church for about 8.5 years. Growing and making my self available for ministry and people. Being a volunteer or being paid full time I've seen both sides. I have to say that now that I'm a full time musician touring the country I look back and miss some parts of the church. I remember people leaving the church saying, "I just don't get anything out of the preaching." Well after hearing a lot of really good speakers along the way I got the chance to go back to the church that I was apart of this past Sunday. I sat with friends of my wifes and I. It truly was refreshing. I'm used the teaching of a little deeper than Topical teachers/preachers. So as I sat there and listen to the message I started questioning why was I having a hard time following what the speaker was saying. Everything he said maid sense I was just not following. Was I becoming one of the ones who leaves cause they didn't get anything out of the message? The title of the message was "Getting the most out of life" and he used a video from this professor at a college who was giving 2 months to live but he was healthier than any of us in the room. It was very touching and very heart felt. The professor said "Experience is what you get not what you want". So true to todays society. So I did get something out of the message so I knew I wasn't one of those people who left just because their not getting anything out of the message. My wife and I got in the car and I began to tell her my frustration not with the speaker but with me. She said something to me that I wish so bad I could have said to the ones who left because of the message. She said "It's not the speaker or preachers job to give you a garden. He is there to give you a seed to plant, go home read more dig a little deeper and plant a garden." Wow! That hit me so hard, I was always expecting a garden when really I was given a seed and not planting it. Styles of preaching are very different and there are lots of them out there. When it comes to getting something out of a message on personal level it's not up to the speaker/preacher to give you the whole garden. "Life's a garden, dig it."