Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a love of gardening and nature. I can sit for hours in the quiet of God’s creation taking it all in. Likewise, my gardens and flowerbeds bring me much joy and are a source of restoration alongside the hard work. It is there in the garden that I often hear from God as He reveals himself to me in different ways.
I have come to appreciate the garden as a metaphor for life and our hearts. Just as a garden needs tending to in order to flourish and best glorify God, so do our hearts. Journey with me on this series as I share with you some of what God has taught me in the garden.
Seasons of the Garden
From the Bible: Genesis 2:15, Genesis 3:17-19 & Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
From Eden onward, the ground has required labour and care. Yet God, in His wisdom, appoints seasons for every aspect of life. “A time to plant and a time to uproot” (Ecc 3:2 NIV) reminds believers that spiritual growth involves both establishing what is good and removing what hinders us.
Every spring I plant and prepare – keeping what I want in the garden, adding what needs to be added. I clean up the leaves from the fall that provided insulation to the ground over the winter and get rid of the things that don’t belong there – things that have died off over the winter, bulbs that have rotted, weeds that pop up seemingly out of nowhere.
Through the summer I enjoy watching things grow and bloom. I watch my garden to see what plants are producing food, and harvest as things are ready. I still weed, and water when needed. I am still tending, but it is not usually as much work all at once. I get to enjoy the benefits of the really hard work put in during the spring, but I am also not sitting back doing nothing.
As Fall comes, the harvest is abundant and I get to enjoy the “fruits of my labour”. Things begin to die back and I am still tending. I can clean it up now, or it will be there in the spring waiting for me.
When the snow comes, the ground rests covered in its protective blanket of white. But I don’t. I am evaluating what worked, what didn’t, what I want to change or add when spring comes and the cycle begins again.
Like the garden we will have times of rest and planning, times of hard laborious work and times when we will see the fruit. God invites us, His people, to seek discernment, embracing the season He has ordained and trusting His purposes in every transition.
Reflect: What season are you in and what is God calling you to do in it?
Beverly Ajtay
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