GREENER GRASS OR ARTIFICIAL TURF?

Some people go through life trying to find a reason why they’re not successful where they are. They feel like the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. It may look greener, but it is usually artificial turf! God’s greenest grass is right where you are standing. Produce where you are planted!

For years, I went to Larry Brown at Kut Above to get my hair cut. I was always fascinated by a sign that he had right in front of the barber’s chair. In the center was a picture of him and his grandchildren. The plaque was a quote from George Moore which said, “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs – and returns home to find it.”

5 years ago, I was in Zurich, Switzerland, with some other pastors working with the Billion Soul Initiative. We’d spent a couple of days making strategic plans to carry out Dr. Bill Bright’s goal of starting 5 million churches and winning 1 billion people to Christ. When we finished our meeting, a couple of Pastors from the U.S. said that we ought to go and visit Ulrich Zwingly’s church. One person, who claimed to be an expert on church history, said that it was in Lucerne, which was about an hour away by train.

I responded that I would not be able to go because my plane would be leaving in a couple of hours. They had more time, so they caught the train and went to Lucerne. On my way to the airport, I asked the cab driver about Ulrich Zwingly’s church, and the driver told me that it was one block from where he picked me up! I asked him if he was sure, and he told me that he’d lived there all of his life, had been to the church, and he was certain.

My friends spent several hours of valuable time going to look for a famous church, and they were standing one block away from it all the time!

I remember hearing a great story about a farmer who got tired of the hard work on the farm and wanted to go find his fortune. He sold his farm and set out to search for diamonds. He spent his life going to different parts of the world, but never did find any diamonds. He returned to his hometown and went back to see his old farm. He was shocked to see that the man who had bought the farm had discovered one of the largest and most valuable collections of diamonds right in his own backyard! The farmer had swapped green grass for artificial turf!

In Luke 15, Jesus told about a boy who wanted greener pastures. He got his inheritance, went to a new pasture, wasted all he had, and wound up in a pigpen. His greener pasture was artificial turf!

One of the most beautiful verses of scripture is Luke 15:17, “He came to himself.” The Greek translation literally means he “woke up” and started thinking correctly. He decided to go home where his father gladly received him and threw a big party for him. God still gives wake-up calls today!

It’s easy to think that things could be better if we were elsewhere. God might be saying to us – “think correctly – come to yourself – realize that I put you where you are for a certain reason, and your greatest joy and happiness always occurs where I put you. You are standing in green grass! Bloom where you’re planted.”

God’s grass is never artificial turf, but always greenest where He puts us!!