My small flower patch boasts of 8 varieties of lilies, countless daisies and pansies, a rose and lots of yarrow. Often as I tend to this delightful flower patch, life truths speak to my heart.
- Often times a weed does not look that much different than a flower. When unsure, let it grow and see whether it flowers. How true in our own lives! When a belief that seemed true grows into real life, it is shown to be a falsehood! Then we have weed picking to do!
- Weeds are much easier to pull when they are small and the roots are undeveloped. When they have grown tall, it takes a mighty pull to get those roots out! In our lives, it is much easier to pull out a wrong thinking, a lie that was believed when it is small. It is much more effort to deal with when rooted deeply!
- As the gardener, it really is my discretion where the flowers are in my patch. If a daisy shows up in the irises, I might pull it. If the lilies are taking over so the rose wouldn’t be seen, they must be transplanted. Really, it is up to the Lord God to position me in His garden patch. I might think I am blooming but if He chooses to place me beside different flowers, He can do that! Sometimes the ‘ouch’ is taken out of repositioning by understanding that the Gardener, Jesus, is growing a beautiful garden and each blossom must be positioned right.
- Each flower has their own blooming pattern. Tulips and daffodils are the first to poke up through the snow. Lilies need warmth and water and blooms last a little longer than tulips. Roses need a lot of tender care to blossom radiantly and profusely. So, each of us has our own pattern for blooming written in our book. Some of us shine under adverse conditions, steady as the tulips. Others need better ‘growing conditions’ to radiate His love, like the lilies. And others need lots of tender care for the promise of fragrant rosebuds. Accept the pattern our heavenly Father has for you! We have dormant periods according to His plan. One cannot bloom like the next person but one WILL respond to Sonshine and Father’s love on you in your own way! Rejoice when another person is blooming and it’s their turn to be shown!
- Pruning new growth of a flowering shrub or bush is part of caring for them. ‘Ouch!’, the pruning might hurt but too much new growth in any direction would cause the plant to look uncared for. So, we must experience the curbing of our new growth under His care.
- There are so many other examples but my final point for right now is a conversation with my Heavenly Father one year while gardening. He was pointing out to me that some flowers bloom all summer long. Others will bloom one week of the year only. Still others bloom one day a year only in the tropics! He was reminding me not to judge my sisters and brothers whose schedule for blooming was very different from each other. Some plants take much cultivation to produce fragrant exquisite blooms while others, like annuals, just bloom happily for a season, just needing water! Our Creator determines the blooming schedule of each plant!
- But finally, He pointed out my tendency to be hard on myself for not blooming continuously in the open. Was He not my Creator Who could cultivate me for years in order to bloom extravagantly as He had written in my Book? If I receive His love and return His love with joy in intimacy, pleasing Him . . isn’t that enough? To have the Father’s pleasure, to catch His gaze is certainly enough! He has a plan for each one of us, written in our Book and when our eyes are on Him, we will walk with Him in our garden fulfilling the plan!
