The Garden

Weeding is such a chore, isn’t it? It seems that I can completely clear all of the weeds from my garden one day, go back the next and find it full of new weeds to pull. So, again, I pull the weeds until there appear to be none, feeling satisfied in my completed work. And the next day…weeds.

It’s like that in our daily lives, isn’t it? We work at the love, the honoring others, the manipulating, the gossip, the complacency, the motives, and more -- judging ourselves, making adjustments…only to find them reappearing. So we go at it again, evaluating our hearts, measuring our efforts to become all that Christ has called us to be. We work at it, even strive, to perfect our actions, thoughts and behaviors. It can become so tiresome, even disheartening, just like pulling the weeds in the flower garden. But, therein lies the problem; It’s not our flower garden to pull the weeds out of, it’s God’s. We are the garden and He is the gardener.

It has been my experience that the Lord brings to light things that He wishes to work on with us, heal in us, or to set us free from, not to be harsh with us or to condemn us—He came to set the captives free, and we are sometimes captivated by many things. Instead of striving to change things on our own, or self-inflict punishment for our failures, let us open our hearts to the love, omniscience, and creative ability of our Lord, the Gardener. The beauty in this is that we don’t need to decide when the gardener comes, when He waters, when He fertilizes, or when He prunes. We just need to KNOW that He is THE MASTER gardener and respond to His touch. He will do His amazing creative design work and the Garden will give beautiful blooms, luscious fruits, and a lovely fragrance. And remember, the Gardener is always IN the garden when He is watering, weeding, or pruning the garden…..He also knows just where to plant, when to water, how much and what type of fertilizer, and how much and when to prune in order to get the optimal results for the design of His garden…You.

Lori Fleming