Published Tue, Jun 02, 26.
Written by Kristy Klitz.

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin..." (Matthew 6:28)

Photos: Local yellow Canola wildflower; The first day of the BKA setting up 3 bee hives together; first harvest of honey of the year being sold at the Collective 103 shop in Old Town Clovis to support the ministry; Gathering Table's 20 bee hives at our main yard in Clovis.

Have you ever stopped and taken a look at the wildflowers in our area? When you start keeping bees you start noticing all the wildflowers. With all the spring rain we've gotten, it has been an incredible year for wildflowers. Right now the yellow Canola wildflower is blooming in the valley, which is an excellent pollen and nectar source for bees (nectar is what bees use to make honey btw).

In this passage in Matthew 6, Jesus is pointing our attention to how God provides for all of our needs. If he provides for the birds and the wildflowers in nature, as stated in verses 25-32, how much more will he provide for his children? Instead, we are not to worry about getting our needs met, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and trust that he will take care of the rest.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:33-34)

Both individually and as a ministry, we have to continuously surrender our needs to the Lord. Really, I believe this is a way of life for the Christian in general. And each time we do this and focus our attention on seeking God first (His will, His desires, His plans, His purposes, His heart) before ourselves and our own needs, something funny happens... God provides for our needs as well. I (Jeff) have seen this to be true in my own life over and over, and also in the Gathering Table ministry, over and over.

One testimony of seeing God's faithfulness this year with Gathering Table, is when we stepped out in faith to do the Bee Keeping Apprenticeship (BKA), before having a location lined up yet. We felt like God confirmed the direction of opening up the apprenticeship to veterans and first responders by partnering with an organization called Hives for Heros. This is a great organization that connects bee keepers with our nation's heroes, many of whom battle with trauma and PTSD. They have found that working with bees can help alleviate the trauma. As great of a mission as this is, we know they are missing the key to finding true healing - Jesus. For it is "by his wounds that we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) Our plan was to invite 3-5 men into meeting regularly through the summer to learn bee keeping hands-on while also doing a Bible study together each time we meet to learn about what the Bible says about agriculture and farming as a way to discover Jesus together.

We opened up the apprenticeship and had 3 men sign up... still before having a location set. This was "seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness", trusting that he will provide for our needs as a ministry, which one of the biggest needs at the time was a location for the BKA, as we are currently not able to do the apprenticeship at our main bee yard in Clovis. Well, as we shared in our last update, God did provide a location. It is actually the perfect spot for what we are doing in the BKA with 3 bee hives. It even has a really cool car shop on the property that we are using to do the Bible study portion of our meetups. The apprenticeship launched in May and started off great. We are excited to see what God has in store!

What is an area or need in your life that God is asking you to surrender for his purposes? And how can you trust him to meet your needs as you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness?

We should all take heart the encouragement that Jesus gives us in Matthew 6: "Consider the lilies of the field"... "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"