I’ve attempted to mirror his results. Carefully planting what he suggested, I had hoped to see the same outcome. But, of course, life would get in the way and I’d not make it back out to the garden for over a week, and I’d find weeds had invaded my space. After pulling out as many as I could, I’d walk away and plan to come back and finish.
Then the rains came, or some other reason, to be delayed. By the time I got back out there, the weeds I’d missed before, weren’t only taller, but all the spaces I’d pulled before had brand new ones, completely strangling the tiny plants which I’d either planted or, the seedlings that had sprouted!
My son, however, wasn’t distracted like I tend to be. He began by making sure the soil was fertilized properly, and then as important, he would ‘tend’ his garden daily. He’d check his plants for bugs and other issues, make sure it was watered regularly, and pull weeds as he found them! This made the process incredibly easier. Even knowing his methods; I still struggle!
OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE IS LIKE THE GARDEN
Sadly, our spiritual life can be just like this. First we may even compare ourselves with others, like I did with my son’s garden. Then we have good intentions, create a plan of action and we think we’ve got 'it’ under control. We sit down with pure determination to strengthen our walk with God, because we recognize we aren’t where we need to be. The world has closed in on us, and we want to make things right.
It works for a few days. We hope we’re making progress, yet we aren’t seeing/feeling any of the results. The following week, we’re running a little short on time, so we skim through the reading in God’s Word and breathe a quick prayer telling God how sorry we are and that we plan to get back to ‘Him’ real soon.
Another day passes, and we squeaked in a few more minutes than the day before, but it seems like it’s getting harder and harder to sit down and just spend time with God. So we begin to neglect some of the basics. We’ll read the Bible and then run out the door or busy ourselves with some other pressing project, figuring we’ll be in church on Sunday and we’ll get ‘straight’ then.
NOT EVEN TAKING CARE OF THE BASICS
Before long, it seems we haven’t even kept up with the basics. No time for Bible reading and even less time to have a heart to heart talk with The Lord! We notice begrudgingly, that God might be trying to tell/show us something, but life is just to complicated to even stop for a moment and try to figure it out. Besides, if God’s pruning something or disciplining then who want’s that anyway? We’ll get back to walking with Him when things get straightened out!
After a time, we realize we are farther away now than when we first sat down with him several months ago. Life’s been hard, things are all mixed up, people seem disconnected, work isn’t going like it’s supposed to, the family seems all at odds, and even church has become a place where we’re not sure it’s where we want to be.
THERE'S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY
Still, that small voice that niggles at our ears, —-and hearts— makes us realize it’s time to do something about all these things that seem so upset! So we dig in again and this time realize it really is about 'the time we spend with The Father'. Instant results just aren’t going to happen. It's much like getting our new teeth following our baby ones. There’s new growth; the old ones come out and now it’s time to ‘chew’ with our big girl-big boy teeth.
Growth isn’t instantaneous; and sometimes it’s downright painful. But when we lean into Jesus, who saved, us, we can welcome his role in our transformation—-in our spiritual growth. It’s a process—-a journey, of being rooted, growing and thriving, which takes time; daily effort and determination; -- and the belief that it’s not about us. It’s about Him!
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