Have you ever felt completely uprooted, disconnected, torn apart? Like a plant that has gone without water for far too long or that is so full to the brim that things start spilling over? I have too. I was doing my best to care for my plants and felt God press something on my heart.
Before we begin, you should know that I am definitely the black thumb in my family. My grandmother, aunt, mom, and everyone else it seems has flourishing gardens outside and happy house plants indoors. Not so for me – at least not until this year! The only plant I’ve been able to keep alive recently was a Philodendron (whose name is Roo) that made it all the way through college with me and is still thriving (much more so when I remember to water it).
I am definitely the black thumb in my family. My grandmother, aunt, mom, and everyone else it seems has flourishing gardens outside and happy house plants indoors. Not so for me – at least not until this year! The only plant I’ve been able to keep alive recently was a Philodendron (whose name is Roo) that made it all the way through college with me and is still thriving (much more so when I remember to water it).
This past spring and summer though, I was determined to revive my dying house plants and have a nice oasis on our little apartment deck. My mom helped me out by bringing and suggesting plants to me that were quite hardy (…”Anna proof”…).
The little guy in the photo, called a Wandering Jew (who names plants? and where do they get the names?!) had been dying a slow death in a pot on a shelf in my home. I would either overwater or never-water and parts of it were rotting and other areas were crunchy and dried up.
There were a few scraggly stems left when I took it outside to re-pot it. I tried just trimming back the stems that seemed healthy, but the more I looked the more I saw that there really was nothing healthy left. The leaves and stems looked healthy but the base of the stem and the root system were rotting. It was only a matter of time before the entire stems would die.
I know, I know. You didn’t come here to read a detailed description of my plant failures. I promise there is a point to this outside of gardening!
In the end I had to entirely uproot every stem. The only pieces I was able to salvage were carefully cut off of their dying stems. I ended up with about five stems that were only 3 or 4 inches long! I stuck them in a new pot with fresh dirt and fertilizer and watered them.
About a month went by, and one day when I was out on the deck I noticed that what had been a scraggly couple of stems had turned into this vibrant plant that had new growth!
And God spoke to my heart. “This is what I am doing in your life.”
God is a better gardener than I. He notices when His creation is in need of water or a different place to grow roots. He knows that the only way to save us is to completely uproot us.
You see, in order to save the best parts of us, He must tear off the rotten parts, the dried up parts, the dead parts. He knows that the temporary shock, discomfort, and pain is worth it.
God can see us as the full, vibrant creation we were meant to be – full of growth and purpose.
And our Gardener never leaves us. When He strips away the bad, He gives us a chance to start over. A chance to grow our roots deep down into His Word, His Truth, His Promises.
Now that it is fall, I’ve been prepping a few of my plants to come back inside for the winter. My friend the Wandering Jew needed a major “haircut” as my mom calls it! It had grown so much that it was beginning to get heavy, and it wasn’t sprouting new growth as readily as before. In order to stimulate healthy growth, the stems needed to be trimmed. I pruned it, fertilized it and brough it inside. Already, in the last couple of days it has perked up and sprouted some new growth.
Sometimes God has to completely uproot us in order to save us. Other times, He just needs to give us a “hair cut” – a gentle pruning to spur us forward to better things. In both times, He is Sovereign. He knows best.
Maybe you are going through a stage of gentle pruning in your life or maybe you are in a place that feels like complete uprooting. No matter where you are, know that the Creator has a purpose and plan. Look to His Word for peace and trust in the promise He gave His people to work ALL things together for good.
And when you look back at the pruning and uprooting stages in your life, may you be able to see the growth in your life!