The Master Gardener
The Master Gardener by Tiffany Ward
“Look Mommy!” says my daughter with so much delight and joy in her voice. She stops pedaling her pink bike, complete with training wheels and a brown wicker basket. She comes to a halt in the middle of our normally secluded road. I smile both inwardly and outwardly as my eyes take in the beauty around us. Spring has sprung, and we were surrounded. Wildflowers were everywhere, with a bright array of colors and a potent sweet aroma! The sun was shining brightly, with a gentle breeze and a few puffy clouds floated in the sky. Alongside the blooming wildflowers were butterflies flitting and birds singing! It was quite breathtaking and moving. I glanced back over my shoulder and I saw my husband calmly waiting with the dog on the leash as our son got his personal transporter of choice, a hover board, down our unpaved drive to the road. By the time I looked back at my daughter she had abandoned her bike to pick the wild flowers. My daughter would “ooh and awe” as she pulled yellow, pink, and purple clusters, and then run back to her bike to put it in her basket. I caught up with her and joined her in the harvest.
As my daughter and I picked the wild flowers along the path on our family walk I remembered a Bible verse about flowers — how they grow decked in beauty, in splendor, and then wither and fade away. Worry tugged at my mind reminding me of our earthly concerns and eventual fate. The challenge of navigating our own health in our human bodies with a holistic and wholesome approach has been forefront in my mind. I think often about what makes up a person beyond our physiological design. How we need to be nurtured in all areas of our lives spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, nutritionally and hormonally. Knowing full well that we were pulling at these beautiful flowers removing them from their life source in their season of bloom, and yet after sometime they would fade away and so would we. The particular Bible reference that came into my mind especially refers to our worry of earthly things. Such as our provisions, our comforts, and even our demise. Matthew 6:28-34 compares the beauty and provision for the lilies of the field to God’s care for humans and 1 Peter 1:24 tells us, “For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.”
As a follower of Christ I believe in an eternal destiny filled with hope, healing, and light. I am not alone in my understanding that all the darkness of this world will come to an end as I have read many wonderful devotionals that remind us of this eternal destiny. I realized even in the darkness of the earths soil, seeds germinate, roots are formed, and plants push out of the earth with such a strong force.
A quote by Sarah Young from her book, Jesus Always:
“There will be no night in heaven, for the Glory of God gives it Light. You will not need nighttime for sleeping, because your glorified body will always be full of energy. Tiredness is one of the main things people have to contend with in this world, especially as they grow old or sickly. But there will be no fatigue in heaven and therefore no need for sleep.”
As I wrote this very article it was energetically so in the dark of night. I had woken from a deep sleep, either from my own restlessness or my husband’s nighttime stirrings. I have navigated some significant health issues in my thirty-three years on this earth. I’m recently learning by way of my healthcare provider and many blood tests that my body operates as an unhealthy sixty-five year old woman. This has come with nighttime wakings. Thankfully, I am coming into a more balanced state for my age and getting better rest most nights. I digress, in the night waking, I paused and I prayed for peace in my body and for my family. I also prayed for sleep to come back over me. The Lord smiled at me kindly. He instead prompted me to get up out of my bed where I lay in the darkness, and to get to work in the light of my living room lamp to write these words!
Real tangible provision is found in our sitting and stepping with our maker. Our strength comes through Him alone. He alone can meet our soul’s true desires and help us to grow into who we are truly meant to become. He is the creator of restful rhythms. You can look at the creation story in Genesis. He is a victor for us; we only need to let our awareness for his presence in our lives grow and He will move us.
How are you connecting with our Creator and finding restful rhythms as you process life? Writing has been so essential for how I process life, and I’m ever so thankful for words that help me express and articulate the deeper thoughts and feelings I have. I came to write by way of my mom. She homeschooled me in my formative years. I was a very emotional child and mom didn’t know what to do with all of my tears. I remember that she and Dad bought me a journal and told me to write things down there. They pointed me towards words bringing freedom and healing. By the grace of God, He has allowed that to be restful for me. It also inspires me and stirs things up inside, allowing curiosity to flow.
There is a song by Emmy Rose and Bethel Music called Tend. These beautiful lyrics speak to me! They help me look at the landscape of my own life and think about how in each season there is a gentleness in the time taken for renewal and growth. The reference to the removal of dead things in our lives, and the pruning of what is running wild is essential for each of us as we build the foundation of belief and trust in our Heavenly Father. God is the gardener of our hearts; He tends the soil of our soul. We want him to break up the fallow ground, cut back the overgrown, and help us see what needs to go. May we have an awareness of the things He wants to stay in our life and flourish in us. He wants to grow in the soil of our lives.
Walking in the light and abiding in God’s grace are part of what makes me tick. There is a particular passage in 1 John 1:5 that says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” Read in full context you will encounter the truth of the gospel and learn more about the eternal hope we have in Christ. John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.”
The message of hope, abiding, and becoming, are all essential to our growth. If we abide in grace as we grow through change, we will flourish. Trust in God’s timing. Spring is here, Enjoy it! The season will continue to change as the earthly pattern does. Get your proverbial roots deep into the hope we have in Christ, wholly abide there because when the heat comes and you wither and fade, there will be a day you will spring up in eternity where beauty and splendor never fade away. Gracefully and lovingly abide in God, let Him grow in the soil of your life and you will be truly changed in every way.
—Be Treasured