Gardener God
There they were, sitting on display in the middle of an aisle at Walmart — house ferns. I had just recently managed to kill my first house plant, so I figured if these ferns could live in the middle of Walmart, surely one could survive my apartment. I threw it in the basket and took it home, a hardy houseplant. No fuss, easy to care for, anyone can do it — this was how it was marketed, and I bought it.
A few weeks later, the ends of the fern started to turn brown. A quick Google search informed me that my fool-proof, hardy houseplant was either over-watered, under-watered, or fungus-infected. Since I had been watering it every other day or so, my first diagnosis was over-watering, so I took the thing out of its container and set the root ball outside in the shade to dry out for twenty four hours. Then I brought it back inside and started a strict watering schedule once a week...just like google said.
A few days later, the poor fern looked even worse. It was dropping leaves like there was no tomorrow, so then I thought perhaps the problem was under-watering after all, so I began spraying it with water every day, soaking the top 1/4 inch of the soil. I even took the thing into the bathroom with me when I showered so it could get a daily dose of humidity (thanks Google for that idea also).
I pruned the dead branches. I moved it closer to a north-facing window. I even changed the thermostat in my house to accommodate my dying house fern, for crying out loud.
But alas, the fern continued to die, until all that was left were a few lonely and sparse branches. So I gave up, and I set it outside to deal with throwing it out later.
I went to work a few times, got busy with my week, and honestly forgot about my little dead fern. It was out of sight and out of mind, until one day I finally had the time to deal with it. I went out on the porch to throw it away when, lo and behold, it had several fresh green branches uncurling out from the base! I decided to leave it be, and to my great delight, I am here to tell you weeks later that my dead house fern has completely and totally revived. In fact, it is flourishing and full.
All I needed to do was stop fretting and fussing over it and put it outside in the sun and rain.
The Lord revealed something to me through this fern that he made and entrusted to my care. Just like with my fern, I can get to fussing and fretting over something. I obsess over it, get anxious about it, and end up smothering the thing to death. Set it down, the Lord seemed to say. Your cares, your worries, your problems, the things you are trying to control — set them down. Leave them to me. And the Lord, in his tender kindness of natural sunshine and rain, revives what I have nearly killed by trying too hard to fix.
In addition to my house plant, I am growing quite a few flowers, herbs, and vegetables out in pots on the porch. I learn a lot from my little garden. I learn that some plants need tender loving care every day or they will die. The basil will wilt without daily water. The sunflowers will blow over in a rain storm if the stalks aren’t firmly supported, and a tomato plants needs a trellis to hold it up and keep the tomatoes off the ground.
The other day when I was helping a friend make some trellises for some rather large tomato plants, I commented on the fact that I found it odd how heavy tomatoes are and how weak the tomato branches are that support them. “You’d think God would have made the branches strong enough to bear the fruit,” I said. In wisdom he responded, “Actually, I think God did that on purpose, so that we should learn how to care for his plants and work for our food.”
And so it is in our lives — just as a garden needs daily care, so we need daily nourishment and nurturing from the Lord. Just as the tomato plants need trellises to hold them up, so we need the support of our family in Christ and Christ himself to help us bear the weight of the fruit God is calling us to bear.
The more time I spend in the garden, the more I learn about our Gardener God. I learn to leave some things to him, so stop fretting and fussing and controlling, and rather let the sunshine and rain do its work over time. I also learn to cultivate and care tenderly for my soul by daily nourishment, nurturing, and support.
“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the streams. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
1 “Blessed is the one...whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3)
A few weeks later, the ends of the fern started to turn brown. A quick Google search informed me that my fool-proof, hardy houseplant was either over-watered, under-watered, or fungus-infected. Since I had been watering it every other day or so, my first diagnosis was over-watering, so I took the thing out of its container and set the root ball outside in the shade to dry out for twenty four hours. Then I brought it back inside and started a strict watering schedule once a week...just like google said.
A few days later, the poor fern looked even worse. It was dropping leaves like there was no tomorrow, so then I thought perhaps the problem was under-watering after all, so I began spraying it with water every day, soaking the top 1/4 inch of the soil. I even took the thing into the bathroom with me when I showered so it could get a daily dose of humidity (thanks Google for that idea also).
I pruned the dead branches. I moved it closer to a north-facing window. I even changed the thermostat in my house to accommodate my dying house fern, for crying out loud.
But alas, the fern continued to die, until all that was left were a few lonely and sparse branches. So I gave up, and I set it outside to deal with throwing it out later.
I went to work a few times, got busy with my week, and honestly forgot about my little dead fern. It was out of sight and out of mind, until one day I finally had the time to deal with it. I went out on the porch to throw it away when, lo and behold, it had several fresh green branches uncurling out from the base! I decided to leave it be, and to my great delight, I am here to tell you weeks later that my dead house fern has completely and totally revived. In fact, it is flourishing and full.
All I needed to do was stop fretting and fussing over it and put it outside in the sun and rain.
The Lord revealed something to me through this fern that he made and entrusted to my care. Just like with my fern, I can get to fussing and fretting over something. I obsess over it, get anxious about it, and end up smothering the thing to death. Set it down, the Lord seemed to say. Your cares, your worries, your problems, the things you are trying to control — set them down. Leave them to me. And the Lord, in his tender kindness of natural sunshine and rain, revives what I have nearly killed by trying too hard to fix.
~~~~~~~~~~
In addition to my house plant, I am growing quite a few flowers, herbs, and vegetables out in pots on the porch. I learn a lot from my little garden. I learn that some plants need tender loving care every day or they will die. The basil will wilt without daily water. The sunflowers will blow over in a rain storm if the stalks aren’t firmly supported, and a tomato plants needs a trellis to hold it up and keep the tomatoes off the ground.
The other day when I was helping a friend make some trellises for some rather large tomato plants, I commented on the fact that I found it odd how heavy tomatoes are and how weak the tomato branches are that support them. “You’d think God would have made the branches strong enough to bear the fruit,” I said. In wisdom he responded, “Actually, I think God did that on purpose, so that we should learn how to care for his plants and work for our food.”
And so it is in our lives — just as a garden needs daily care, so we need daily nourishment and nurturing from the Lord. Just as the tomato plants need trellises to hold them up, so we need the support of our family in Christ and Christ himself to help us bear the weight of the fruit God is calling us to bear.
The more time I spend in the garden, the more I learn about our Gardener God. I learn to leave some things to him, so stop fretting and fussing and controlling, and rather let the sunshine and rain do its work over time. I also learn to cultivate and care tenderly for my soul by daily nourishment, nurturing, and support.
“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the streams. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
1 “Blessed is the one...whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3)
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