trust the gardener

Some days are simply beautiful. Some days have this magical way of being mellifluous. Everything is right in the world, (or at least it seems to be so). Still, there are the other days - the kind that eviscerate the mind, leaving one perplexed that we live in a world that is so excruciatingly unkind. It is on a day like today that makes me realize how much I need Jesus, and how His beautiful love is so much more meaningful and constructive than an easy day where everything seems to be going right.  I am growing, because I am hurting, and through my pain, I can see the hands of love reaching out to me, touching me in the deepest places of my soul. 


Take a look around. I know it may seem like it, but no one is perfect. We are all existing in various stages of acceptance of our own history, actions, hurts, triumphs and defeats. We all have a journey to go on, we all have people to forgive, battles to win, pain to acknowledge, insecurities to overcome.. I tend to agree with the statement that the measure of a person is not defined by what they achieve, but by the things they overcome. When I look at my life through the truth of that statement, I see myself as being much more of a success than if I was just looking at my life through my achievements. If I never win a gold medal, if I never see the dreams I have accomplished, if I never get to see another day in this life, I will still be full of love and hope because of the things I have overcome. God has helped me, and we have done it together, we have been a team, we have been a family, we have been father and daughter, and He is has never left me or forsaken me. He has fought my dragons with me, and we have stood in victory over the things that were intended to choke out my life, as they lay dead on the ground. 


I am more than a conquerer in Christ. Just listen to that statement as you read it in your mind. I am MORE than a conquerer in Christ. There is so much power in that statement, because it is the truth. Jesus is the hero that we need. He is the only one who will stay when everyone around us bails, when people let us down, when life gets really really difficult, He stays. He is the one who will fight with us as we come to terms with the fact that our battles have been won. We can stand firm in Him and together, and take the ground that was ours in the first place.. 


Don't be discouraged if you have a life that looks like a bunch of weeds right now. Remember that there is someone who will help you pull out all of those weeds.. every single one. Even if it takes years to remove one weed, He will be there with you through that process. You have a garden, your soul and your spirit are yours to tend to. That garden was intended, dreamed, breathed and spoken into being by the most beautiful person who has ever existed. He dreams beauty and calls beauty into being, and you are intended to be that beautiful garden.. What is, is only temporary - but what is eternal is that beauty, that dream, that purpose, existing outside of space and time.. waiting. We need God to become connected to who we truly are. We can't do it without Him.. in Him we live, move, and have our being. God doesn't see you as being your weeds, He sees you as being the beautiful things He planted in your garden when He created you. Some of those things haven't ever even been cultivated yet. So don't give up, don't stop believing that He loves you - all of you - and though you may feel a certain way, it doesn't change the truth of who you are in Him. His truth exists outside of emotion and feeling.. His truth stands.


I am praying that we, as His people, would not give up, but would be faithful to keep going, even when it becomes painful to look at the weeds that have been allowed to grow. Keep your focus, keep your faith and hope in Him and trust Him.. let His healing hands of love help you do the work. 


How I love His hands of kindness... how much He has given for me.. more and more I am realizing, He is the one that deserves all of my trust... He is the relentless gardener who will never give up, never tell me I'm too far gone.. I am so thankful for a God who loves me so much..