Look at the garden. Take a moment to see each of the individual plants. There are some standing tall in the warmth of the sun. They sway back and forth with the wind. Others have just begun to come out of the ground. Just beginning to sprout. Then there are those that are still seeds held down by thorns and weeds. The gardner loves them all and he desires for each of them to grow.
No gardener plants a seed and then leaves it on its own. For, the weeds would overcome it. Instead the gardener tends to his fields. He tenderly cares for them. He carefully pulls away the weeds so that the flower can grow towards the light. He is patient. He knows it is never immediate. That growth takes time.
The grown plants in the garden should never forget what it was like to be the little seed. The weight of the weeds pulling them back into the ground. The soil blocking their view of the light. They can not just tell the seeds about the light and expect them to obtain it own their own.
In the same way we can not just tell others about God and then expect them to find him. Like the gardener, we should help them pull away the weeds that have prevented them from seeing Christ’s light in their lives. Just as someone once did for us, we should walk along side them. In doing so we will not only reveal Christ to them, but walk them into their own relationship with Him. It is only then that they will be able break through the soil and into the light.
While plants grow with other plants, they alone can not provide enough nutrients to each other. They need more than just rich soil to grow. They need the light to bring them up out of the ground. To direct them. They need the water that falls from the gray clouds to wash them clean. To refresh them and cleanse the soil. These things come from God and God alone. We can not provide these things, only help each other realize that they are there.
Sometimes we forget. We try to grow and to help each other grow. We become so focused on growth that without noticing, we become a plot of weeds. We think we are all plants reaching for the light, but we have lost sight of the light and pulled each other down. As iron sharpens iron so can rust tarnish. Just one rusted piece is enough to corrupt an entire machine.
Therefore, we can not become so focused on other people’s plot that we neglect our own. We must continue to grow even as we help others. Like a new seed we also need people in our lives that will help us pull the weeds out of our own flowerbed. You see the weeds never stop coming back. They are constantly trying to take over.
It is a lot to balance. There will be set backs and moments of failures, but there is also grace. There will be times when you feel like a little seed alone in the dirt, but there is mercy. There will be days when the light is covered in dark clouds, but the light will never leave. It is ever constant even when we cannot see it or feel its warmth. You need only to press through the dirt that is blocking your view. Keep pressing on. Keep reaching for the light. But do not forget we are all in this garden together.
