Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be?

Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?

The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.

Genesis 2:15

My dad was a great gardener. He loved watching things grow and taking care of them—he grew everything from food to flowers and enjoyed every minute of it. He was also a minister who preached the gospel for more than fifty years. There, too, he loved to watch young lives and converted hearts begin to blossom and grow. So gardening stories often worked their way into his sermons as illustrations.

One day later in life he said, “I guess I ought not to be surprised by anything at my time of life, but one member of our congregation did manage to take my breath away.

“I was preaching about God’s tender wisdom in caring for us all, and I illustrated it by saying that the Father knows which of us grows best in sunlight and which of us must have shade in order to thrive.

“I said, ‘You know that you plant roses in the sunshine, as well as heliotrope and geraniums. But if you want your fuchsias to grow, they must be kept in a shady nook.’

“After the sermon, which I hoped would be a comforting one, a woman came up to me, her face glowing with pleasure that was evidently deep and true. She said, ‘I am so grateful for that sermon,’ clasping my hand and shaking it warmly.

“My heart glowed for a moment, while I wondered what tender place in her heart and life I had touched. It was only for a moment, though.

“‘Yes,’ she went on fervently. ‘I never knew what was the matter with my fuchsias.’”

Dear God, thank you for tending to our lives, pruning our hearts, and helping us to grow into the kind of people you know we can be. We love you, Father. Amen.