“It was a lovely garden, with neatly trimmed hedges and white roses in a row. Then along came a bulldozer, and crushed it all. Exposed and vulnerable, the raw dirt deeply scarred…. But now, wild flowers are beginning to grow… all colours, spilling out of their boarders and spreading out to the horizon. The garden is my soul.”
Most of us experience a bulldozer season at some stage in our lives. Whether its an unexpected health issue, a relationship break up, a death of a loved one or some other traumatic experience, they come and change our neat and tidy worlds, leaving it in an upheaval and we are left wondering how we will ever recover and have some sort of quality of life again.
But the raw dirt does not have to remain the landscape of our lives for ever. Though the garden may never be the same, it can become even more beautiful than it was. This is the hope that I hold on to, with full confidence that the Master Gardener is fully capable of turning any chaos into something exquisite.
I have been amazed at how willing God is to step into the mud with us. As a loving Father, there to help us make something beautiful out of the mess of our lives, he does not seem at all overwhelmed by the size of the job as he stoops down and begins to level out the land. He takes from His storehouse and carefully feeds the soil of our soul with love and kindness, as we allow Him.
He works with us to pick out the weeds that begin to take hold in the newly exposed dirt; you know… those lies that we allow to grow in our wounded places, those beliefs about ourselves and our circumstances that come to choke the life out of us, preventing hope and joy from flourishing.
And He gives us the tools of wisdom, strength and courage as He offers us new and healthy seed to plant, the kind that grows well in the revelation of true identity and worthiness, taking our mess and growing something brand new. This is my God, this is what I love about Him.
It seems that He is not interested in recreating my perfectly structured garden. His plan is something much more abundant and generous. where flowers can be picked and given and there is always enough.
While there is still much to do, the bare ground is still visible in places and the weeds keep on coming, the seeds we’ve planted together are germinating and pushing through the ground, bringing hope for a better tomorrow. Spring has come and colour is peeking out of the opening buds. The Gardener scans the landscape and smiles. “It is good” He says…
What is the landscape of your life looking like? What has God done to transform your mess into a masterpiece? Are you able to allow Him to do this? I’d love to hear your story.
The Garden. by Sharon Tiatia. Lockdown 2020. Acrylic on board. 30 x 20″ https://sharontiatia.com/
About the Author: Sharon is a prophetic artist from Southern New Zealand. She leads a Sozo ministry in her region and is passionate about inner healing and wholeness. This subject regularly features in her work. She paints in both Oils and acrylics.
Sharon Tressler 