Ahh - What God Has Planted!

 

I remember the day I purchased these flowers.

It was a hard day.

In a challenging season.

And I was looking for something lovely.

Something that could help in the recalibration of my eyesight.

 

I saw them there in the greenhouse.

And honestly I chose them for the colors.

Bright orange and yellow.

Seemed like the perfect compliment to our home’s stone exterior.

 


But I have no green thumb.

I have no horticulture knowledge.

No skill in plant-life longevity.

 

But I had been looking for lovely.

And begging God to see clearer.

And the way He answers is nothing ever short of miracle.

And creativeness.

 

I would plant with slight skepticism.

But I would plant none-the-less.

 


And faithfully I would water.

Day and night I would water.

 

By 9 a.m. I could be found “tending”to my little garden.

And before 9 p.m. I could be found, again, nursing my tiny beds of golden goodness.

 

And I would tell friends as of late, “these little ones were my friends this summer. They needed me.”

And additional truth is, I needed them.

 


And I would see the fruits of my labor… the result of my investment, come to pass and over time.

 

Not right away.

But slowly.

Over time.

Sort of like the development of a soul.

The regeneration of a heart.

The transformation of a life.

 

Slowly.

 

Because the truth really is that we are so often impatient during the planting season.

 

Because it takes work.

It takes diligence.

It takes time.

And patience.

 


And in my case - risk.

 

But I was determined to not allow past failures in planting prohibit me from experiencing the joy of present progress or hope of future potentiality.

 

We cannot afford to look at present conditions and determine an unfavorable outcome.

We cannot afford to fixate on present sufferings and determine impending doom.

We cannot afford to focus on present circumstances and determine a threatening fate.

 

Oh that we would see - what COULD be.

 

With a little work.

A little patience.

A little love.

A little dedication.

 

And a lot of prayer.

 

An expectation that what God has planted… and what we have watered… will, in fact, produce a great harvest in you… and in me. (2 Cor 9:10)

 

These glorious blooms will soon succumb to the harsh element.

The wind will blow.

The temperatures will drop.

The snow will come.

 

But somewhere underneath all of them, ahh.. beauties now… will survive the hardest winter because the deepest of roots have been cultivated, and the strength supplied for an even larger yield come spring.

 

I’ll see you next spring, friends.

And when I do, I will remember the sacrificial work done in great faith, that made way for tremendous growth!