God’s Green Thumb

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

John 15:1-2

A green thumb? I don’t have one. In fact, mine is perpetually pink.

I did not inherit either of my sweet mama’s green thumbs—she had two of them! She was a gardening gal through and through. Mom would run out of land to work on in the front and back yards, so she would just extend our backyard into the woods behind our house.

Because I do not know one plant from another, I have great respect, admiration, and awe for precious people who do—God’s gardeners! You just may be one of those people who take what God has given them in nature and tend to it lovingly, carefully, and consistently.

In John 15, Jesus says that God is a gardener. How thrilling to have the Gardener who created the first garden tend us lovingly, carefully, and consistently as His children. Even when the landscapes of our lives seem plowed up, God is at work. And when it seems our branches are being lopped off, it’s because God is pruning us for greater growth.

When I went through the literal pruning of a mastectomy, I was encouraged to know that good growth comes after pruning. And though the “pruning” was painful, I can honestly say I have grown and even blossomed in the ugly process.

Let’s not settle for small, pitiful plots in our hearts. We need to allow God to control our living landscapes. He knows just the right amount of pruning or fertilizer or weed killer needed. He is ever tender and always on hand to offer shade and shelter and nourishment as we grow.

“Lord, let my garden grow!” Ask the expert Gardener to prune you as He knows best; thank Him that He doesn’t leave your growth to a lesser gardener to handle. Only in Him can we sow sweet.