Put In the Hard Work

I love a fresh new year with sparkling new resolutions.

My ambitions are high, my expectations are hopeful, and I am intentional about pondering the goodness and new mercies of the Lord.

Yet, without fail, as I enter into the new year with new resolutions, one thing remains the same: my desire to continue growing with God.

This year, as I pondered how to flourish in Him, I was reminded of my vegetable garden from last summer.

This particular day was eventful, and I use that term because it was one of those days where I was putting out fire after fire – one thing right after another, and I was exhausted.

I looked “tore up from the floor up.” Do you know what I mean?

And yet, even in the chaotic busyness, God was still teaching me a Kingdom lesson.

So that afternoon, I decided to take a break from the noise and get some fresh air in my garden.

I previously shared my desire for a vegetable garden with my brother-in-law, who is skilled in gardening, and when he offered to help, I couldn’t refuse. He generously tilled the soil and worked hard to cultivate a plot of flourishing plants of my very own. As a result, my garden had everything my family loved: crisp green beans, golden corn on the cob, sweet tomatoes, and hearty squash. It was everything I wanted!

However, that summer afternoon, my garden was everything that I wanted to run from.

My beautiful garden had become quite unruly. Stems, leaves, and vines had grown into one another almost overnight. Grass and weeds had popped up beyond the soil boundary we created. The careful intricate walk paths we planned were no longer visible. The color palate of my young harvest was non-existent. All I could see was a tangled, green mass.

I asked my brother-in-law what had happened, and he simply offered this advice, “Trina, you got busy. I got busy. And you have to tend to the garden each day, or it will look like it is today. We haven’t been doing the hard work.”

No matter the size: big fields, small backyard plots, planter boxes, or small apartment windowsill pots, gardens take a lot of hard work.

There are weeds to pull, vines to prune, soil to fertilize, and roots to water.

As I gazed upon the emerald, tangled mess before me, the Holy Spirit began to speak.

He gently reminded me that if I had just spent the time each day tending to my garden, I would have an easier time getting to my vegetables – the fruit.

Allowing the Father to Prune Our Branches

John 15:1-2, TPT says, “I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father. He cares for the branches connected to me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest.”

As we surrender to the Father and allow Him to guide us in our spiritual walks and with the world we live in, He will care and tend to our branches, and we will continue to flourish for the Kingdom.

Sister, It isn’t enough to say that we want to do the work so that we may have a vibrant and fruitful relationship with God. 

We must commit time each day to spend in His Presence.

We must apply His Word to our lives and hardships as we practice walking out our identities as daughters of Christ.

We must allow Him to pull the weeds in our lives – the things that God doesn’t want for us, such as sinful habits, unhealthy relationships, and things that have become idols.

And we must continue to see ourselves how the Father sees us in every situation.

Flourishing Fruit

That afternoon, I took some time to forage through the tangled branches and overgrown paths of my garden. I began pulling weeds and pruning fruitless branches. And after a while, my paths were revealed, and my garden’s colorful fruits and vegetables were visible.

The same is true for our spiritual gardens. As we rely on God to help us tend to the gardens of our souls, it will cultivate fruit, His fruit. We will grow an abundance of His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Friend, choose to do the hard work, and with consistency, apply it to your lives.

Do it for your marriage, your children, your relationships, and to break the chains of trauma.

And if we want to be like Jesus, act like Jesus, and have compassion like him, we must tend to our gardens so that his harvest would be plenty.