“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit (Jer. 17: 7-8).”
From a very early age, I grew up around gardens and subsequently learned that it’s hard to harvest anything you’re unwilling to first cultivate and consistently take care of. The hours are long; the commitment often seems laborious and there’s no real guarantee you’ll get anything out of it. You plant with no real promises…and so I promised myself that when I got out on my own I wouldn’t be one of those goofballs with a garden…
…but alas, here I am, waiting for my vegetable plants to be delivered to the church. Go ahead and brand me, but gardening has become a “go-to” for rest and relaxation. As I make preparations to plant, however, I’ve thought a lot about how I’m going to lay out my garden in order to get the greatest yield:
“Okay, Jake. Strategize: What are you planting? How many plants are you going to put out? What about plant height? What needs to be positioned toward the front? Water? Check. Shade? Check. Sun exposure? Check.
|But I learned the hard way that you can have all of the above and still come up empty if you don’t consider the state of your soil.|
The difference between merely surviving and really thriving depends on how deliberate you are to surround whatever you’re growing in the right environment. The application is exceedingly more relevant for people than even plants and the words of Jeremiah are jarringly clear: Any good growth or development of any kind must be rooted in a rich, relational trust in God…and contrary to prevailing notions, it doesn’t happen by osmosis or the luck of the draw.
Happy with the health of your marriage? How about your financial stability? What about the state of your career or your friendships? Do you care about the spiritual vitality of your children?
Consider the above: Where are they rooted? Where have you planted it or them? Not periodically but consistently; not coincidentally when it’s convenient, but deliberately, intentionally. We display out what we draw in. We’re all immersed in something and, in time, it’ll show. Make sure you check your soil. It’s never too late to transplant.