Spring is always a mixed bag. You get a hint of the warmer days, the flourishing of earth awakening, and simpler times. And then you get hit with the winter weather once again. It almost seems like a trick. Just when you thought spring had arrived, there always seems to be a few more weeks of winter weather.
I already planted my tomatoes and peppers. I couldn’t help it … I saw a deal for 4 plants for $4.00 and thought this was my sign. When I planted them, the weather was in the 70s. Surely spring was here to stay. And then days of rain came, temperatures dropped to the 30s at night and the 50s during the day. I’m hoping my plants will survive (sigh).
A year ago, I felt the Lord calling me to the garden, and the whispering voice I heard in my spirit told me He had things to show me that could only be found in the garden. I have already learned so many lessons and I’m just at the tip of all He wants to show me.
Just as Spring brings in the mix of beautiful, life-giving weather and then it quickly changes to reminders of the winter we thought we were leaving behind, I have come to find that life is a lot like that. One minute everything seems good, like we’re flourishing, and then suddenly we’re stopped in our journey as stormy times blow in unexpectedly.
As I’ve been crawling through the Psalms daily in addition to other books of the Bible, I read this portion from David’s cry to His Father.
“My spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” (Psalm 143:4-8)
How many times have I, and dare I say we, felt as David so personally penned? Like everything is falling apart – as if, winter has taken up permanent residence in our hearts. Last spring I remember planting vegetable seeds in my garden. Each day I would go out and check and see if any green had broken through. At times I wondered if anything was happening underground.
Sometimes I feel like a seed in the ground. I have found myself deep in the darkness, alone, unsure, craving the Light. It’s hard to know which way is up, and I often grope in the darkness for the right way to go, wondering if I’m only moving farther from the Light. Have I been forgotten down in the deep dark ground? Does the Lord remember me? Why can’t I hear His voice calling me? Will I be a seed that will never produce? Does the Lord have a purpose? Will I grow into all the Lord created me to be? Will my roots grow deep and will I emerge from the darkness, full of life? Will I bear much fruit to nourish others? And will I leave my seed for future generations?
What I have come to realize is that it’s through those times that real growth is taking place in me. This is where the foundational work is taking place. It’s part of the process of knowing the Lord in the deepest parts of my soul. In the darkness of the ground, I find is the only place my roots can grow deep to find the Living Water. It is here where I began to open and let the Lord call forth life in me. As my roots grow down, the rest of me finds its way to the surface where the Sun (Son) is and I feel His warmth wash over me as fresh sprigs of life come forth from me.
I find myself repeating this verse and reveling in its truth.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19
Regardless of where we find ourselves in the journey of life at this moment, we can rest in the truth that God knows exactly where we are and has never left us. He continues His work in us with a love that knows no bounds.
May we continue to live…
Rooted in Him,
