The Gardener
Elaine Utting
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 58 : 11
My back yard has evergreen bushes and trees in pots.
I was watering recently, during that hot spell we had in between all the rain. One pot had become very dry. The root growth had filled it, so there was no room for the water, and it was running off the sides.
Once I’d noticed, I began to give it a little water several times a day instead. Only a day or so later the soil had softened, and the daily watering was soaking in as it should. As soon as I could, I re-potted it in a big new container, and it’s flourishing now.
I began to connect the way I take care of my plants with the ways the Lord takes care of us. I thought about how there is more to gardening than watering.
Jesus said our Heavenly Father is a gardener.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15 : 1-2
Ouch! Pruning! Not so refreshing. Much nicer to think about being watered -
“a well-watered garden . . . a spring whose waters never fail.”
Isaiah 58 : 11
But that verse is set at the end of a passage that challenges us to get rid of hypocrisy and make caring responses to situations in our lives.
There is the promise of refreshment, but, unlike my tree, which can only receive my care, there is also a challenge to respond. To act, to open my heart, to learn about thinking differently, acting differently. To cooperate with the Lord’s purposes in the way I live my life, as well as in being refreshed by Him.
The good news is that we aren’t trying to do it on our own, trying to please Him so He’ll bless us. It’s part of our relationship with Him. Allowing Him to show us where we’re wrong. Letting Him point us in the right direction. Being guided by Him as we work it out.
He’s always with us, watching over us, picking us up when we fall, giving us the resources to do the work that He has called us to do. That’s the promise -
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 58 : 11
