I am going through a period in my walk with God where He is pruning me - bigtime!
Pruning is not easy to endure because it is a time where God makes you uncomfortable and you feel blah about everything.
But God gave me a beautiful analogy to think of during this difficult time.He said I must think of all my daily disciplines as ways that I am lovingly attending to my Garden of Faith. When you are a garden lover, you are in the garden at every opportunity, whether or not there is something in bloom. Just the very act of giving TLC to your garden brings satisfaction and the blooming at the end is actually a bonus. All you are after as a garden lover is a flourishing, healthy garden, blooms or not.
That's the same way I should be attending to my Garden of Faith, lovingly going through the various daily disciplines knowing that in the end my garden will flourish because of the constant attention, in and out season. This analogy reminds me that just as my garden is not just about the blooms, my Garden of Faith is not just about the consolations that God gives me to keep my faith strong. It's much deeper than that and I should be able to walk in faith whether or not God gives me consolations.
I love this analogy and it has certainly given me a new perspective as I go through this period of pruning.
To God be the glory!
Amen!
