Without rain, gardens cannot grow

Today as I was doing my morning walk around my gardens, and marveling at the green and the growth and the beauty of it all, I was struck by how the recent rain and uncharacteristically cooler weather have caused things to practically shoot up overnight. And I was overwhelmed with the beauty of God's creation, and his unfathomable purpose and methods, and I wished out loud that I would stay here forever and never leave, so I could absorb this beauty and this wonder. I felt His presence around me, as if He was holding me in his arms and carrying me around the yard, pointing out a new shoot here, a budding plant there, a tiny warbler singing above me. It brought me to tears. And to a realization that we require not just sunshine and balmy weather to grow and to appreciate and be thankful for our blessings from God. We also need times of rest and refreshment, like the cooler days and the seemingly incessant rain, to help us grow, and reach up to heaven.

The past four years, not just the past 8 weeks, have humbled me and taught me so much about myself, about life, and about God. Through startlingly brilliant and glorious times of joy, as well as through dark periods of seemingly unending grief and pain, interspersed with grey moments of uncertainty, God has brought me, carrying me, holding me, cradling me, and teaching me to look up to Him, always, to trust Him, and to be refreshed. Like the gardens outside, I need rest and rain to grow, and not just refreshment from sources I seek out, but refreshment from above. Take my gardens--I can fertilize them with compost, water them with sprinklers daily, and pull weeds and thin the seedlings to optimize growth. Sunny days make them grow, and bloom, and thrive; cloudy days and rain, though, provide much needed nourishment and rest.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

And do not return there without watering the earth

And making it bear and sprout,

And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;

It will not return to Me empty,

Without accomplishing what I desire,

And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

(Isaiah 55:10-11)