I have never really paid attention to nurturing plants until recently. Thanks to the spare time available at the moment, this led to the discovery of my love for plants which happens to be one of the numerous blessings I have received in this season of my life. Regardless of all that is getting a lot of people agitated especially the unprecedented effect of the Covid 19 pandemic on the world economy, Believers have to continue trusting God for the wisdom to navigate through this season and beyond.
Due to the unusual quietness that the lockdown has brought upon our cities, it becomes easier for humans to pay attention to nature, considering the drastic reduction in our everyday activities all over the world. This is the reason why I suddenly had enough time to notice a dying plant which I started tending, and then I decided to do my best to revive it. To my amazement, this exercise became a huge success considering that I have never had to tend a plant before. This success gets me so excited such that I smile each time I take a look at this plant knowing what condition it was compared to how it is at the moment.
At the time when I started tending this plant (which is not actually mine😊), I realized all it required to spring back to life was just some amount of time, adding water regularly and allowing it to access sunlight. Within 48 hours of this activity, the saggy, scanty and discoloured leaves suddenly sprung up and became full and bright. This taught me several lessons both spiritually and life related. Below are the immediate lessons learnt:
~ For any plant to grow, there must be a seed planter yet a whole lot of people can nurture it: Just as the plant I have decided to nurture this season is not mine, so are several lives and destinies that God brings our way. This explains the reason why parents sometimes take the time to sow the seed of God’s Word into their children’s heart only to realize long after that it will take the effort of someone else to nurture these seeds which will eventually lead to the conversion and being spiritually grounded in the Word for these children.
God expects us as parents to be sowers of the seed of His Word into the lives of our children because they are gifts from Him and are expected to be like Him. The question however is “are you equipped with the right seeds to sow into the lives of these lambs”? You cannot give what you do not have. Get yourself connected so you can also connect your little ones to the Giver of the gift.
For the other people God brings our way, who are not necessarily connected to us by blood, we are not to be careless about them. God’s plan is to ensure that everyone that crosses our path in life is impacted by us one way or the other, regardless of where they are from, families they belong to or the culture they grew up in. Be a planter of some seeds as well as a nurturer of others. ( 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, Psalm 127:3 )
~ Plants need strong and deep roots to stay healthy: one thing I did to the plant I have been tending was to take out the dead leaves that had fallen off because they were no longer connected to the source of supply (the root). The fallen leaves were dry and some were rotten. Interestingly some other leaves on the plant were drying up but were still connected to the branch and they obviously had the chance to survive, so I left them alone. To keep the leaves that had fallen off will mean wasting my time and effort because they had no connection to the roots and for such leaves, death was inevitable. This applies to our spiritual life, work and family. The unseen effort, time, resources put into it is what produces a healthy, beautiful and enviable life. We are expected to be firmly rooted in God’s Word as believers so as to be able to stand the various tests that life brings our way. The more rooted we are in His Word, the more unshaken we become as a result of life issues and our lives becomes beautiful. To be uprooted will mean not being connected to the source of life, beauty, and growth. Are you connected? Are you deeply rooted in His Word? (Colossians 2:7-9)
~ Just as plants need water to survive, we also need to be watered: growth is essential for every living thing and for us as humans, it is expected that we grow in all areas of life. This can only happen when the right things are put in place.
Career wise, people are expected to keep growing by acquiring relevant skills and knowledge needed to enable growth. Failure to develop ones self will keep such a person at the same level. The same thing applies to our spiritual lives. As God’s children, we have the responsibility to keep watering our lives such that we will have a better understanding of God’s person, His Word and His principles. This is made possible through various channels like studying the Word, fellowshiping with believers, reading or studying faith based materials, developing our spiritual muscles by praying and fasting, embracing spiritual principles like loving others and giving, etc. The more we do these things, the more we become successful in life and ministry. (Ezekiel 31:4)
~ Keep the pests away : thank God for pesticides and herbicides. The best plants are however the organically grown ones, kept away from pests and diseases that are capable of destroying them. Sin is a pest humans have to deal with from time to time because of its toxicity. ( Romans 6:23)
Sadly, the result of sin have a way of leaving us with guilt and regrets. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who comforts us and reassures us of God’s love towards us whenever we return to Him in repentance. Our best bet is to stay away from anything capable of making us live in regrets, considering that some of these experiences are capable of leaving us with scars which can be pretty tormenting as they make us wish we never sustained such injuries.
I will probably stop by to share more lessons learnt as I continue to tend this plant in this season. I am excited to see the beauty that is being revealed as I continue to nurture this plant.
Keep planting the right seeds, keep nuturing and keep thriving.
Shalom.
Author Profile
- Temitope is the founder of thesoulmeal.com, an online platform that she shares with her God-given spiritual family and friends. She is a speaker, teacher and youth counselor. She is passionate about inspiring people to find their identity in Christ. Catch her interviewing inspiring leaders on Tongue of the Learned Podcast
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