The Other Side Of The Wall!
by Glen Young

A young woman, who was a great lover of flowers, planted a rare vine that
would produce the most magnificent blooms. She planted it at the base of a
stone wall and it grew vigorously but there were no blooms. Day after day
she cultivated it, watered it, and tried in every way to coax it to bloom.

One morning, as she stood before the vine, she contemplated how disappointed
she was and considered cutting it down. It was at this point that her
invalid neighbor, whose back lot adjoined hers, called over to her. "You can
't imagine how much I have been enjoying the blooms of that vine you
 planted". The young woman looked and on the other side of the wall the vine
was filled with the most beautiful blooms she had ever seen. The vine had
crept through the crevices and flowered luxuriantly on the other side.

Christians sometime think that their efforts in serving God are in vain.
This has caused some to give up working in the vineyard of the Lord. We need
to learn that in God's service our prayers, our toil, and the crosses we
bear are not fruitless. Could it be that the fruit is there, we just do not
see it?

Paul wrote the Corinthian brethren to be "... always abounding in the work
of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord."
1 Corinthians 15:58. Paul speaks here of obtaining Heaven. Even so, does not
this teach us that there is fruit in our labors for the Lord? The ultimate
fruit being eternal life.

However, the Christian life while on earth, bears fruit of another sort.
Kind deeds and godly influence are as much the fruit of our labors as is
Heaven. These are the fruits we do not always see blooming around us.

Individual Christians and congregations have times when they are a little
'flat'. Times that nothing seems to work. Although we are not able to see
the bloom of our labors, does not mean they are not there. When a local
church is willing to set goals and to take the steps of faith necessary to
accomplish those goals, it will scale the wall and see the blooms on the
other side.

Recently, in a conversation with a brother, he said that he felt we were
getting our collective zeal back to where it was a few years ago. We are
planting and watering.

Our radio program is but one of the collective labors of the Road Creek
church. This past week, I received a call from Crum, WVA and a letter from
Kimper, KY concerning our radio program. The voice on the telephone could
not say enough good things about 'Bible Talk' and told of how they
advertised the program wherever they went. Written in the letter was the
following, "Keep in mind, I hardly ever looked at a Bible until I started
listening to you, all of this is new stuff". I am persuaded that we do not
comprehend the total impact that the Road Creek church is having throughout
the area. I praise God and give Him the glory for we are but laborers. It is
God who gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:7).

I have been to the wall. I have seen the other side. I saw the most
beautiful flowers. I saw Jason, Chad, Matthew, Bradley, David, Jordan, Kyle,
Kevin, Dewey, Barry, Bubby, Kenny S., Susan, Sarah, Hollie, Samantha, Keri,
Jessica, Elizabeth, just to name a few. Then I saw little buds that were
just waiting to burst forth into future blooms. I saw Chris, Steven, Chase,
Christopher, Luke, Zachary, Mike, Itty, Kassie, Ariel, Tabitha, Lydia,
Alexis, Kristen, Leah, Kennedy, and Chloe. The magnificence and beauty
overwhelmed me and I wept saying, "Dear God, open our eyes that all might
see the other side of the wall". And God's man, Paul, said, "For which cause
I suffer also these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know him whom I have
believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have
committed unto him against that day". 2 Timothy 1:12.