When Mike and I pulled down the long and curvy driveway beneath old live oaks filled with moss we knew we were home. This was the home that I had dreamed of since I was a little girl. I did not see all of the things planted haphazardly around that front yard. In the back yard and side yard was the view of the ICWW. I loved water and live oaks and there were 17 huge old trees full of moss in our yard. When I met the couple who currently owned the house she quickly informed me that she was a master gardener.
We soon knew that we were going to gut the house and make it ours. Before we moved in I had a swing hung from the live oak which I would use for years. As soon as we moved in I got started on that front yard. I worked hard moving things and cleaning out! It was hard work but each day I would experience immediate gratification. All the while I would think of the woman telling me she was a master gardener. This front yard was unworkable, overgrown and haphazard from the years of planting clippings here and there. It needed a complete makeover which it got through lots of blood, sweat and yes, tears!
I think of God as the Master Gardener. Genesis 2: 9, "The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Can you imagine that garden? I bet it was abundantly filled with lush greens and vibrant colors that we have never even seen. It probably had every food imaginable that man would need to eat. God's garden was beautiful - "pleasing to the eye". God is still the Master Gardener and He has planted us where we are.
The Jewish people had suffered for many years, until finally God sends them a message, Isaiah 43: 18-19, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness." God looks at our workable, overgrown, haphazard lives and decides to give us a complete makeover. He will tear down the old things in our lives making room for new things. 2 Corinthians 5: 17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
There are times in our lives when we do not understand why we are where we are. We do not understand why we are going through what we are going through. Proverbs 3: 5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
We need to trust God with our plans because He knows us better than we know ourselves! Isaiah 55: 8-9, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" He has a plan better than anything we can imagine! He is the Master Gardener putting us in the perfect place to help us grow. He will help us grow deeper so that we can grow out reaching others. He will see that our roots run deep so storms cannot blow us over. He will help us bear fruit and plant seeds.
Ecclesiastes 3: 11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." He will make us into something beautiful!