Ambrosia cantaloupes are my favorite. They are sweet and luscious. I consider them garden treasures.

My Dad got such joy from the garden. He always got the garden spot plowed and ready for planting. We planted together and as long as he was able, he helped work the garden. He would “run out the middles” and I would hoe the rows. It was the best.

One year we had so many cantaloupes. He would come pick in the morning, keep what we needed then head up the road in his gray Chevy truck. He stopped at neighbors and friends leaving cantaloupes with everyone. By the end of July, we had picked over 100 cantaloupes from our small patch. He was so proud of that patch.

By the first of November, we were still harvesting cantaloupes. Dad had gotten tired of them. One day when I got home from Baxter’s office, the cantaloupes were plowed under! Poor Baxter. He was broken-hearted. We walked down to the garden to see and there were cantaloupes broken open everywhere. It seemed like a waste but it was time for frost and they would not have time to ripen anyway. Still…it wasn’t a happy day.

Fast forward to the next year. We planted cantaloupes as usual and small cantaloupes developed on the vines. We were looking forward to another bumper crop. It was not to be.

I went to the garden one morning to pick vegetables knowing I would probably get the first cantaloupes that day. To my horror, the ones that should have been ready to pick had been stomped, and only one bite taken. I went to the next one. Same thing. Stomped and bitten one time. DEER!

Now I understand that people love deer. They are beautiful to watch. But they destroy. I would not mind a deer eating one cantaloupe. But walking through the garden and destroying them all? Unacceptable.

There is a destroyer in the spiritual world. Like those deer, he is determined. When our guard is down or we sleep the destroyer comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Sometimes it even appears he is winning, but he is NOT.

So if you find destruction and chaos in a place you have planted and tended, do not despair. The Lord our God is mighty. He redeems. He will save to the uttermost. He gives “beauty for ashes”. We can be confident. This is only momentary.

All is not lost.
We can plant and tend again.