This Spring, I have once again reignited my love of gardening. Last year, my first attempt at gardening met an early demise when critters ravaged my beautiful square foot garden. I am bent and determined that I WILL have a successful garden this year, and therefore have planted both an earth garden as well as containers on the deck.
As I was preparing the gardens, I was struck by the similiarities between my gardening and the work of The Gardener. The first thing that a gardener must do is work the soil that has been hardened by the elements. This is usuallly first done with a tool -- a cultivator or shovel. It is hard work and requires some major upheaval. The weeds, old roots and debris must be sifted out. It can be very disturbing to the soil if not done with extreme care. As you till the soil, you have to be careful not to harm the worms, which are crucial to the health of the soil. After the initial tilling, you usually have to add new compost and top soil. At this point, it is imperative that the gardener use their hands, to feel the soil and gently break up the clumps that have formed.
I was aware, as my bare hands gently broke up the clumps of compost and soil, how God must do similar work in my heart to prepare me for new growth. Sometimes it must be a drastic and harsh tilling of the hardened parts of my heart. It can often be painful circumstances that first churn my life and heart and make me aware of my great need. Then there is the infusion of healthy soil and nutrients -- the rich organic matter that is necessary to support new life. This is often through His Word and His people that reveal His overwhelming and intimate love for me. And then, there is the Gardener's own hands that gently sift the clumps and work the very tender soil. The Master Gardener always gets His hands dirty. His work in my heart is intimate and when my heart is the most tender is when His hands are most gentle. After all the hard work has been done, and only then, the new growth can happen. The seeds are planted and gently tapped down. The right amount of water is added -- not too much to drown the tender seeds, but enough to moisten the soil and create the right environment for growth. And then there is time. New life cannot be rushed. When all the elements are in place -- nutrient-rich soil, sunlight, water, healthy seed -- the only remaining thing is TIME. Patiently waiting for the seed to germinate and new life to break through from the soil. Thankfully, God is PATIENT. He knows all things and can see deep into the heart, where the seed is germinating. Unlike me, the IMpatient gardener, who obsessively checks twice a day for new growth and obsessively waters and watches, He can patiently await the new growth.
I am a new gardener, spending as much time undoing as doing. The Master Gardener is perfect. There are no mistakes. No oopsies. No second guessing. And I am so grateful that He knows exactly what I need, and when my heart is most tender, most exposed, it is His own gentle hands that sift the hardness. He is not some disintrested creator who sits above, detatched, watching the human drama unfold. He is intimate. He knows each heart. He plans each new growth. And just as I do, He exults when the new growth breaks through the soil and reaches towards heaven, straining towards the life-giving Sonshine.
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