There’s a time for clearing and a time for planting.
The ginger and cinnamon plants had grown prolifically – to the point of being quite untidy as well as taking up more and more space in the narrow strip of ou
r garden where we had planted them.
On the other hand our mandarin tree, growing at the end of the strip, was coming through very nicely and was even fruiting abundantly for the first time.
Time to clear the untidy growth and turn the soil, I thought, for a fresh new input of plants. The weather agreed with me and supplied me with an abundance of rain during this time. The ground softened and enabled me to pitch the fork in deeper than I ever could before. Encouraging!! Bit by bit, over a period of several days, I hacked away at the smaller clump of the ginger bush. Success!!
The bigger clumps had to have the heavier hand of a gardener and then it was all ready for me to tidy up the patch, plant 3 small fruit trees, one ornamental one and several little bedding plants. I put several stakes in to support the growth of these plants and made sure this area received a regular feed until all the plants got established.
Now I not only have a new and fresh look in that patch of my garden but also the prospect of seeing some fruit and different flowers coming through in their allotted seasons.
That which we sow in the garden of our lives, grows. And sometimes so prolifically that we are forced to prune drastically or even remove some things in order to allow for others to flourish.
Today I will clear away the ‘negative’ plants of distress, anguish and fear of the future that grow prolifically if I let them, because of the geographical distance between me and my kids. Instead I will plant God’s promises and His assurances for mine and my children’s geographical circumstance, and I will nurture and put stakes in to hold those plants steady in a fresh and living way.
VOICES OF EXODUS 