On Saturday I got to work in the garden.... I hadn't been out there in ages!! Why? Well, let's just say it was equal parts uninvited/unwelcome guests of the eight legged variety, and laziness. But anyways, the little invaders are gone and in the spirit of Spring I could hear my poor flowers screaming for help. I would look out my window and shake my head: Oh, Lord, how I've let it overgrow. It was chaos out there, a total mess.
So Saturday morning I went out there with pruning scissors in hand.... Now, before I go any further you need to understand something about me: I HATE pruning plants! I absolutely hate it. I know it is soooo good for them but I can't stand it. They always look so sad and vulnerable, so completely desolate. It breaks my heart every time I see a freshly pruned bush.
I had woken up with a plan. My mom was supposed to work in her garden as well that day, so I was gonna ask her to prune them while I looked away and try not to think of the massacre. But alas, it wasn't the Lord's will. She decided she would have a lie in instead, which left me with no choice but to confront the dirty work myself.
After some extensive weeding I grabbed the scissors. I had been praying the whole time I was weeding (hoping my mom would wake up and come out): "God, why are you making me do this?! You know how much it hurts me." He didn't respond. He just stood there- like a father who has already given instructions and is simply waiting for the child to obey, knowing that no explanation will be satisfactory to a child that doesn't really want to do what she has been told. He had already told me why. He had already shown me how much better it would look, how much the flowers really needed it, how the hedge bush needed to get under control because, apparently, it had decided it wanted to take over the garden and eat up everything else in it! (lol, it's true!)
I looked at the hedge, put the scissors to it and gasped as I heard the first: snip! To my surprise and utter amazement, I did not die... I didn't cry either.... But I felt... wait for it..... relieved. Yes! relieved. What an odd sensation, I felt good. I felt good I was getting rid of this extra weight, that just made things messy and even though it made things look full, in reality it hindered growth. There was a slight sense of loss but it was overpowered by this great wave of relief and comfort that washed over me of being able to see things getting into shape.
I had to tie the flowers to stakes because the wind and weight of the overgrowth had made them all lean to the left so that they were growing crooked one on top of each other. I also got all cut up because the hedge bush, who had looked so tender and innocent when we planted it, had developed thorns! (I told you it was getting unruly, lol)
At the end it looked great (by comparison). Yes, some of the flowers look a bit vulnerable but I know they will be strengthen soon and be more leafy and bring out more flowers than before. Before it was a tangle mess of leafs and flowers where you couldn't distinguish one from another, but now because everything is pruned and in its place I will be able to appreciate it more!
This may sound contradictory but after all the pruning and all the weeding, and the setting of things right, the garden looks more 'whole' than ever! It is only by God's grace that in losing we gain!!!
Why am I sharing ALL of this with you? Because sometimes there are things in our lives God wants to get rid of, or things He wants to prune back, but we keep putting it off. We put it off because it is inconvenient at the time, we put it off because we are afraid, or we put it off simply because we can't be bothered to put in the effort we know is going to take. But I want to encourage you: DON'T PUT IT OFF ANY LONGER. Whatever sense of loss you think you will incur, whatever wounds you think you can't handle, it is all swallowed up in His magnificent grace- you will actually loose nothing but gain everything. Do not believe the lies of the devil, who keep you looking full and thriving when in reality you are hurting and stunt in your growth. Allow the Vinedresser to snip away with His skilled hand... perhaps immediately afterwards you will feel/look bear but in reality you will be whole. Do not coward away from His hand, He knows what He is doing, and He will give you the rest and peace you so long for.
"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." Mt 16:25
"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Mt 11:29
