If practise makes perfect then it is safe to say I am an ever improving gardener! We have spent a lot of time in gardens, pulling out weeds, clearing rubble and planting new plants.
This humbling work has taught me a few things which have so much symbolism to how God is working in my heart and the hearts of the team!
It brings so much joy to see the vision of the gardener before we start, there are weeds everywhere, rocks in the wrong place and some plants dominating most of the space.
The gardener looks at the garden and sees the end product, the full potential that it will reach no matter how much work it takes to get there. This garden is for a specific purpose which the gardener already sees and cherishes. Perhaps this garden will be to look beautiful or to be functional and provide food or shade.
Once the vision is there, the work begins.... Pulling out weeds, digging up roots, moving rocks and cleaning out old leaves. Anyone can pull out weeds but only the patient and caring gardener really takes the time to get the whole root out. Some plants or obstacles need special tools to be removed and sometimes reinforcements of the team are called in for help.
There are some trees in the garden that are perfectly healthy and even bearing fruit but they don't belong in the garden therefore have to be removed.
It is obvious to see that this is similar to the way that God works in our lives. He has the vision and the purpose, he uses all sorts of circumstances, experiences and people to shape us accordingly.
Each time I surrender to God, it is as if He has a whole new section of the garden to work with.
He protects and maintains the work He has already done. He knows everything about the garden to the finest detail; what to plant, where to plant, how the garden will reach its full potential, the amount of sun each part needs and every nutrient needed for growth.
God's heart for the garden is to thrive! No amount of weeds or rocks will come in the way of what the garden is to become.
The Master gardener treats the unfinished work as if it is already the end product!!
At the end of the day, the beauty of the the garden reveals the heart of the Gardener and the glory that is present in what is being made.