When we choose not to care for that which was ours to plant, we have no right to be angry when another gardener steps in.
I was incredibly bothered when they cut my butterfly bushes back at the end of last summer. I knew I’d let them get out of hand. I could see the unruly branches creeping over the back of the patio furniture, but I was going to get to it. They didn’t have to come in and cut them down to the stump.
I learned a lesson that day: if we choose not to care for that which was ours to plant, we have no right to be angry when another gardener steps in.
Back to here and now, sitting on the floor, staring out at the patio, in the place where I most often meet with the Lord. I’ve been eyeing these butterfly bushes all spring, waiting to see if they would recover from the devastation of a multi-limb amputation.
(ok, so multi-limb amputation was probably a bit dramatic, but welcome to my early morning stream of consciousness)
I’ve watched the other row bushes come to life, green leaves giving way to an abundance of little yellow flowers. Meanwhile, my butterfly bushes still resembled a pile of twigs, save a few sparse dark green leaves at the base, nothing like the bright green leaves and purple buds they’ve displayed in years past.
He will have His way, and little by little, we will begin to understand what He was doing while our expectations were going unmet.
But this week, I’ve seen a few more leaves, a few more colors. And today, there’s the making of a purple bud at the top of one of the bushes. Little by little, this thing is coming back to life. Later than I thought it would, definitely not on the same time table as the other plants. But she’s making a comeback.
Little by little. Isn’t that how the Lord moves? No on our time table. Not when everything else moves. He will have His way, and little by little, we will begin to understand what He was doing while our expectations were going unmet.
Beauty is better appreciated when it is cultivated over time. I am all the more encouraged by the prospect of life in these little purple buds because I have spent so much time looking at what appeared to be death.
Beauty is better appreciated when it is cultivated over a period of time.
This morning I sat in this place, looking out at the patio, and talking to the Lord about how long things in my life are taking. How much I don’t understand. How unfair it seems that others’ lives seem to be advancing while mine does not. Yet trying to stay faithful and open to His plans.
Then I looked over at that butterfly bush, slowly coming to life, and I sensed the Holy Spirit with me, whispering, “Little by little, Kylie. Little by little.” Such a sweet presence in that moment.
Can I be honest, though? I don’t want little by little. I want lots by lots. I know how that sounds, but I can’t be fake about it. The longer we spend waiting to see the beauty rise from our ashes, the more we want immediate deliverance.
The longer we spend waiting to see the beauty rise from our ashes, the more we want immediate deliverance.
Little by little. Seasons change gradually, but they do change. We don’t go from summer to winter without a fall. We can’t bounce out of winter without a spring. God moves step by step, little by little, unwilling to defy the natural laws He put into place.
God didn’t take the Israelites directly from slavery to the promised land. There were plagues preceding freedom. There was a wilderness before the promise was received.
After 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments, you’d think God would have a lot to say to His people. But He showed up in the form of a baby who couldn’t form a sentence. A child who had to grow up, little by little, before His power would be displayed.
He could have returned by now, ushering in the new heaven and new earth. It doesn’t take much to see that humanity is aching for Him to set it right. Instead, He moves little by little, allowing the Kingdom to advance in time so that none would perish.
Seasons change gradually, but they do change.
God moves little by little, unwilling to defy the natural laws He put into place.
I’m with you on wanting the lots by lots! My proclivity is towards making the lots by lots happen by increased effort exertion, or sometimes by brute force. (Lol, just call me Rambo Rebekah 😂) But, that approach doesn’t typically work out too well. So, little by little it is…in God’s way, at His pace, in His time.
“Beauty is better appreciated when it is cultivated over time. I am all the more encouraged by the prospect of life in these little purple buds because I have spent so much time looking at what appeared to be death.” Amen ❤️
So grateful for your input, friend. Glad to know I’m not alone in my tendency to rush! Also…bonus points for the Rambo reference 😉