Growing With the Help of the Great GardenerSample

Another Pest?!

The vine soldiered on and recovered from the slater attack and grew bigger and stronger. Then the next exciting part was that I started see some flowers which would soon sprout some cucumbers!

However, with the slaters eliminated, the next pest moved in and that was the dreaded green caterpillar. Well! I was out there multiple times morning and night picking them off. It was a battle, and they did well at blending in and playing hide and seek. Slowly but steadily, I was able to hold them enough at bay that my cucumbers could still persevere and grow, despite the continual bites being taken out of them.

Haven’t we all experienced when it feels like one thing after another goes wrong in our lives? Just when you think you have it sorted, something else gets in the way to cause problems and get us to be a bit discouraged. If we don’t feel like we have someone to help us, it is even more overwhelming.

But God does come through, and when we trust in Him, our roots in His love grow deeper and help keep us strong.

Did you know that a tree's roots become stronger and more solid in the ground BECAUSE of the wind? They actually benefit from being shaken and tossed around and put under pressure.

The roots are actually stronger and have a different shape on the side of the tree that faces the wind. The side that faces the weather.

There was a time when Peter was affected by the wind and the waves. It caused him to be afraid, but ultimately that shaking made his faith stronger. The wind, the shaking, led Peter to rely on Jesus even more.

A tree that does not experience trials and has to endure…has weaker roots. Isn’t that comforting? It is actually more beneficial for us to go through tough times to develop and cement our roots in God. Sure, some of our branches might break in a storm, but we will weather the storm if we are deeply rooted in God.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for walking with me through trials.

Please help me to trust in you and rely on you for help.

Thank you for all the things that I am going through that ultimately help me to grow strong roots in your love.

Amen.