God’s Garden

“We are God's Garden..." 1 Corinthians 3:9

We are God's field, His husbandry, where God cultivates His flowers and fruit. This is one of my favorite bible verses! I don't know how many times I've painted this and I never get tired of it. Perhaps because it reminds me of the one and only vision God gave me. I experienced this during a singles' retreat in our community. I was before the Blessed Sacrament, and Jesus and I were in a beautiful garden. Everything was lush and blooming and vibrant. Jesus said to me, "I am the gardener here. I take care of all these plants. I prune them all. I will show you one that I do not prune." And he brought me to a dead, decaying tree. All brown and withered leaves.

Then Jesus continued. “I am sure you do not like to be like this tree."  In a way He was preparing me for pruning. You see up to that point, ever since I was young, I would pray, "Lord, treat me gently." And God answered my prayers. I had a very comfortable, enjoyable life. No problems. But God was saying if He continued to treat me gently I would not bloom, I would not bear fruit!!!

In the Song of Solomon, we read, “Awake North wind, and come, O South wind! Blow upon my garden, let its fragrance flow. Let my beloved come to my garden and eat its choicest fruit." (SS 4:16)

Why does she want the bitter cold North wind to come? Trials and challenges, this is what God uses to prune us. He knows what we need to become better people. Just like coal needs to be exposed to temperatures of more than 2000 degrees and pressure 50 times greater than what we find on the surface of the earth to become a DIAMOND! And then after that, it needs some sort of volcanic  eruption to bring it up to the surface of the earth!

Pressure makes us who we are. It can build our character. I guess we are all coal starting out. When the pressure builds, and adversity comes, we have to stay in faith, and work with God to become a diamond. Or we can give up, and crumble to dust!  

So come North wind! Help me to become a diamond!!!