May 10, 2011
Every living thing reaches for the light. It is a simple fact. And so natural. My mom has all her little plants all starting in a variety of pots, waiting for the snow to be melted and the days and nights to be warm enough to plant them in the garden. Today was cold and snowy, and not warm enough to take the pots out to the greenhouse, like she does every day until she can permanently plant them outside. That’s how it goes here in the mountains, when spring doesn’t arrive until now, and still it can be cold and snowy like the first of January.With the sun shining through the sunroom’s windows, the plants reached for the warmth, the light. Like us, even when it doesn’t seem like we can be aware of Christ in our lives, we still reach for Him, unconsciously until, one day, we realize He’s there, waiting for us with arms open wide.
I was born in a Christian home, raised knowing God and His truth, so I am not one to know quite what that is like, but my dad and mom both went through that. Throughout their lives God was leading them, and they leaned towards Him unknowingly. The Lord had a purpose for them, to come to Him, and to raise five children that would grow up to serve and love Him. What a wonderful thing.
Through trials, pain, and loss, we have to learn, no matter how we grew up, to reach for Christ, the light. He is our sole provider. Without Him we are dead. Like a plant needs sunlight, not because it is weak, but because the sunlight holds the essential nutrients for that plant to grow, we need The Lord. And with the sunlight, a plant needs water, (the Word of God in our lives), to grow and bear the fruit it was made to bear. In so many ways, God has given us examples in nature to teach us lessons to grow by, I believe. Last year in Mom’s garden, I was helping her weed, and it was amazing how the weeds flourished, while the plants struggled to thrive and grow, beneath the toil, the pushing and shoving of the greedy weeds. How can it be, that the weeds could grow so easily, even without water and sunlight, and yet the plants take a special kind of care, the right amount of water and sunlight, to grow into their full promise? Amazing, isn’t it? In this world, it takes a special kind of care for a person to grow into who God has called them to be, it’s that narrow path, a difficult walk, living a different life then the world. We have to fight past the pushing and pulling of the weeds that surround us. While, all the while those weeds, the world, grow up around us, thriving and giving no room for God’s children, the plants, to grow. But, God, our wonderful Gardner, gets in there and weeds around us, letting in the sunshine and watering us with His word, making sure that we have a way to push past those weeds, as long as we keep trying, keep fighting for our place as God’s children, we can grow, and overcome those weeds that eventually die away, while the plants bear fruit to leave behind, nourishing and good.
What an amazing thing! Another moment that takes my breath away!
Always,
Elley
