Even in the crazy paced society we all live in, many still make a commitment to gardening.  When you ask most of those individuals why they go to all the work and effort to garden, the most popular answer is usually about the harvest.  They want the reward of the fresh food that the effort reaps.

My husband and I have had different commitments to a garden over the years.  I remember the first year we were married and lived by his mom and dad and we helped them with a huge garden, but the reality was, his parents really did the hard work.

In recent years, we have started doing a small garden in our back yard, but we really weren’t too serious or dedicated to it, until three years ago.  At that time we decided to make a brand new commitment to gardening and my husband built us an amazing raised bed.

Now the stakes had changed.  When we used to just plant a few things out by the fence, there wasn’t much of an investment, so if we didn’t feel like protecting it to see if it would grow, there wasn’t much to lose.

This new garden was expensive to build, and it certainly cost us much time and effort to maintain, but we decided that if we wanted something we had never had, we would need to do something we had never done!

Many could make this relate this same analogy to their spiritual lives.  There are seasons in our journey where our devotional lives become stagnant, and our relationship with our Savior becomes a bit cold.  It is during these moments that we stand at a crossroads and we determine, “If we want something we haven’t ever had, we are going to have to do something we have never done!” This decision most likely will cost you something; it may be an investment of your time and energy, or some other kind of sacrifice.

Let me be the first to say this is easier said than done….especially for the long term. I vividly remember one Sunday afternoon during our gardening season, that first year we made this new commitment. I was tired and wanted to go crash in my recliner, but I had to travel for work that coming week and there were all of these green beans to work through and preserve.

I remember standing at my kitchen sink and asking myself “IS IT WORTH IT?”  I could buy a bag of these at Walmart for $1.44!  It was during this moment of weakness that I kept reminding myself about the investment, and I tried to focus on the reward.  If you want something different, you have to do something different!

The problem is, we want different without a commitment! We want different without it costing us anything.  We do not want it to be INCONVENIENT!

I love the story of the blind man named Bartimaeus that is found in Mark 10:46-52.  You know why I love this guy?  He decided if he wanted something he didn’t have, he was going to have to do something he had never done and that was crying out with all his might, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

He was committed! When the crowd told him to be quiet, he just yelled even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Jesus saw his determination, He saw his investment, and He responded, “Your faith has made you well.” 

What about the woman with the issue of blood?  We read about her in Mark 5:25-34.  This woman is another great example of someone who said, If I want something I don’t have, I have to do something I haven’t done!  She had seen many doctors, she suffered much, but when she risked everything to touch Jesus, she was made whole!

There is one more example from the Old Testament that shows us a different situation.  Let me give you the background because this is a lengthy passage.

There was a great man who was highly respected and the captain of the army of the king of Aram named Naaman. He was a valiant warrior but he was a leper.  There was a little girl from Israel who knew the prophet Elisha, and she told Naaman’s wife that if he went there he would cure him of his leprosy.  Naaman went and told his master what the girl had said, and he sent him with a letter and payment to the king of Israel to cure him of his leprosy.

The king got upset and tore his clothes at the request, but Elisha heard about it and said, “Let him come to me.”  Let us pick up reading the story from there:

2 Kings 5:9-14 NASU: "So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean." 11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.' 12 "Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean."

We see a very different example here.  I wanted to use this example because if we are honest we often have the same attitude that Naaman had.  We want the preacher to pray for us, and the problem to just go away.Naaman didn’t want the process, he just wanted the prophet to wave his hand and pray to God and it be healed.  He was mad when he told him he had to go dip in the Jordan, he even asked why he couldn’t go to one of the other two rivers…..IT WAS INCONVENIENT!  Naaman had to do something different to get a different result.

I could give you many more examples, but I just want to remind you that when your commitment seems difficult to keep, remind yourself of your investment and focus on the reward.

Let’s consider more about the commitment. Revival is a time where we stir up the gifts God has inside of us. It is a time that we fan the flames and renew our passion for the things God has planned for us, and our corporate bodies we are a part of.  With that thought in mind, I want to encourage you to keep pressing forward and to not allow your momentum to slow or your fire to go out by sharing some of the lessons I have learned in my garden.

Lesson #1: Sowing and reaping

Sometimes we plant seeds and nothing seems to happen!  I felt like it would take forever before I had my first tomato this year!  On the other hand, there are some things that grow really fast, but burn out fast, this was the case with my lettuce…we produced two good crops but then it was gone.

There are other things that take such a long time; they also require patience and hard work.  This was the case with my husband’s strawberries!  He wanted to get a good base crop, so the first year he had to focus on reproducing more plants that year instead of producing the crop.

What is the point I am making with all these examples?  Some things will produce fast in your life.  I believe God wants us to have those things to help us to persevere for the things that might take a little longer.  Scripture tells us in Galatians 6:7-9 NASU, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

Don’t get weary, and quit!  If you sow in the spirit, you WILL reap in the spirit!  Remember you can’t have different without commitment!

Lesson #2: Guard against Distractions

Just like weeds in a garden, distractions will choke the progress of growth.  While I think we all understand the concept of weeds, I want to give you a very different visual.  When we used our raised bed for the first time, we didn’t know the challenge of planting our zucchini and yellow squash in the first section.  Talk about a distraction! The large leaves overtook the entrance to the walkway and made it difficult to manage the rest of the crop.  They also reproduced at a rate that there simply was not enough room for them to be housed in one section together.  This picture shows the end result.

This is what distractions will do to you! You will be divided, not fully engaged in the plan God has for your life.  Not fully committed or invested in growing spiritually. One day you are yellow the next day you are green!  One day hot the next day cold, distractions will do that to you!

Let me tell you about distractions, they are often used as a tactic of the devil to take away your TRACTION for forward momentum!  As soon as you start making some spiritual progress, the enemy wants you to be focused on something else to slow you down or detour you. He wants you to become DIVIDED!

We learned some lessons our first year; we are NOT going to plant our zucchini and yellow squash there again!  We are going to put them in our barrels where there are boundaries!  Sometimes we need to place some boundaries in our lives to stop the distractions the enemy brings our way!

Lesson #3 is about preservation

Every year we tend to have such an abundance of tomatoes. Our first year at this, I decided I was going to preserve some crushed tomatoes for cooking.  Later when I had to buy tomatoes for the first time in a few months, I realized they just didn’t taste the same.  Then later that same week, I decided to pull out a jar of the crushed tomatoes I preserved to make some chili, and I quickly remembered the difference in how these taste. Remember, if you want something different, you have to do something different!

This is just one of the things we preserved this year and we continue to benefit from the commitment even after the season is over.  My point is, during a season of revival when you are making a new commitment, when you are fanning the flames, when you are stirring up the gifts, you will often get fresh revelation, new direction, a Word from God…you have to preserve it!

Don’t let what God is doing in you die with the first cold spell! 

For some preserving it might be continuing to do something different and continuing to go after God with a completely new passion and energy.  For others preserving it might be documenting some things you can go back and read at a later time.  I am a real advocate of a spiritual journal.  The reality is, if you don’t write it down, you will eventually forget it. 

God will commune with you every day; He will meet you at your point of need and will give you direction.  Those who are faithful with little, He will give much.  If you will be faithful to do something with what He gives you, He will trust you with more!

I can take you to the day in my journal on July 9^th 2018,  when the Lord first spoke to me about my garden.  On that particular day, I was calling out to God about prayers I had been praying and answers that seem are never coming.

He said to me, “You planted the seeds, now keep watering them…” In that moment of communing with the Lord, I continued to write. “We are learning first hand this year the work of gardening. It was such an investment to build, we will definitely stick with it.  It requires daily watering and weeding and even when it produces – it is messy, so much work to do before the harvest is usable….It is not convenient, but the reward is worth it!”

Doing something different is NOT ALWAYS CONVENIENT, BUT IT WILL BE WORTH IT!!

IF I WANT DIFFERENT, IT TAKES COMMITMENT!

Today I have the pleasure of sharing a guest blogger’s testimony. If you have followed this site, you are aware that my passion is to take the truths of Scripture and lessons learned in my Secret Place time with the Lord, or by experience to help others to grow and mature spiritually in their walk with the Lord. Today you will read about a wonderful example of God’s grace and mercy as He walked hand in hand with this young woman and brought a beautiful story of healing in her life. This story is near and dear to my heart because it is written by my beautiful daughter Nicole. I hope you enjoy and share with others who will benefit from reading about God’s delivering power.

Today I would like to share the testimony of some of the healing I have experienced in the last three weeks. First, let me tell a little bit of the background story that led me to the need for deliverance. I started struggling with an anxiety disorder when I was 12 years old. I felt sick to my stomach all the time and nervous at school. They put me on medication that controlled my symptoms most of the time, but around age 15, I began to have panic attacks, which continued off and on through high school. My experience of panic attacks is awful. It feels like I am completely out of control of my emotions and can’t catch my breath. As adrenalin gets pumping, I find myself gasping for air.  The one thing I have found that helps me is to say the name Jesus over and over.

Fast forward to 2020, which has brought us so many struggles with COVID. I found my stress and anxiety level doubled due to the mandate to wear a mask. I felt claustrophobic and my loss of control in so many things that was happening weighed heavily on me. Since I work in the healthcare field, the stress of the job also increased. Many people going through the pandemic have struggled with stress, depression, or anxiety of some sort, but when you add all that stress to someone who has a preexisting anxiety disorder, it creates the perfect storm.

That is what happened for me three weeks ago when I felt like my world came crashing down. I had to get help both medically and spiritually. I described myself as broken and shattered into pieces. I felt like a puzzle fresh out of the box, all mixed up and could not see the beauty in pieces found in the final picture. I even thought if I bought a puzzle and put it together, I would feel better. It didn’t work. I wanted a quick fix. You know, like take pill, put a band aid on it, get a hug, sleep and be better, just like that.  This time though, something had to change. No longer could I stand with the pressure of the world placed on my shoulders. I realized this was not going to be a sprint, but a marathon.

My mother helped me to start sorting the pieces to put me on the right track to recovery. First, I had to give it to God. I had to let Him take my mixed-up pieces and make me feel beautiful again. I started reading two Christian books that we studied at my church 4 years ago, “Telling yourself the Truth”, and “Hinds Feet on High Places”. I also started journaling how I felt and my prayers to God. I started to realize that I had deeper problems than just stress and anxiety.  Some of the other things I discovered was that I also was struggling with worry, self-doubt, self-hate, trust, fear, depression, unfair expectations, work pressure, and even pride.

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“Hinds’ Feet on High Places” was a book very meaningful to my healing. I have the children’s version and it is beautifully designed with illustrations and devotionals. It begins by saying, “This is the story of a young girl named Much-Afraid who learned to trust the Chief Shepherd. It is the story of how she left her Fearing relatives and went with the Shepherd to the High Places where ‘perfect love gets rid of fear.’”

Throughout the book Much-Afraid must face her fears, problems, struggles, and pain. Along the way up to the high places each time she laid down her own desires to follow the Chief Shepherd’s, she would build a tiny altar that would turn to ash. In the middle of the burned ash at each altar, she found a stone that she collected along her journey. These stones later are transformed into jewels for her crown at the High Places. She learned four lessons on her way. First, she learned that she must accept joy with every path the Shepherd led her on. Then she learned to forgive others when they hurt her. Third, she learned that the Shepherd never looked at her as weak and crippled. He only saw what she would become. Lastly, everything that happens in life, no matter how crooked and ugly it may seem to be, can be changed if treated with love, forgiveness, and obedience to the Shepherd’s will. When Much-Afraid reached the High Places, the Chief Shepherd transformed her into someone new and beautiful. He even changed her name from Much-Afraid to Grace and Glory.

This book helped me see the transformation happening in me as I let my body and mind recover, learned to give up control, and ask for help. After weeks of studying God’s word and reading my books, I started to give up those problems. A Bible verse that gave me much peace was Psalms 46:1 TPT, “God, You’re such a safe and powerful place to find Refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble, more than enough and always available whenever I need you.” I also would repeat Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I found peace in encouraging songs like “You Say”, by Lauren Daigle and “Fear is a Liar”, by Zach Williams.

I had let the enemy tell me lies for years, like, “Everyone will think you are crazy! You’re not good enough! You’re never going to get better. You’re a bad mom and wife!” Instead of listening to these lies, I determined that I would get better because God said to cast all my fears, worries, and stress on him. He paid the price, so I don’t have to carry those burdens. I then had to learn to listen to the truth, which is that it doesn’t matter what people think, because I only must please my Heavenly Father. The truth is, I strive to do my best and I am successful at many tasks. The truth is, I go above and beyond for my family. I take special time and enjoy the moments we have together. I am loved and adored by my husband, boys, family, and fiends. They love me just the way I am!

On March 21^st, I finally felt ready to place all my struggles at the feet of Jesus during a time of worship at my church. I went to the altar, fell on my knees, and gave all my problems and struggles to God! I no longer had to carry that pain, which made me feel such peace and freedom. I just wished I could have had a memorial stone like the character in the book did when she built her altars.

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After feeling this deliverance, I wanted to complete a visual part of my healing. I took helium filled balloons and wrote words that represented my problems on them so I could release them to God. I went with my mother to Shawnee Mack Lake, where we have been walking and talking over the last several weeks during my healing process. The wind was strong that day, so we took the balloons along a path to a bridge where it was calmer. When we arrived, we realized the wind had tangled all the balloon strings. We broke some free but six of them were left tied in a bundle. I said a prayer telling God I was releasing all my pain and problems to Him, because I could not hang on to them anymore. Then I raised the balloons into the air and let them fly!

It was a beautiful picture watching my cares float away. A funny thing happened though, the six balloons that got tangled did take flight, but the weight of the strings brought them down on the other side of the bridge into a swampy, brushy, area where they stuck on a twig. We watched hoping the wind would blow them loose. Even though I felt like I got what I needed, I decided to throw rocks at them to try to knock them free. My mom joined in the effort, so you can imagine the funny site of two grown women throwing rocks at a swampy brush pile trying to release balloons. It felt great to throw rocks at “my problems” written on those balloons! While we never got them loose, I felt ok, because sometimes you give your problems to God and the enemy keeps them in sight, yet out of reach to taunt you. When you feel that pressure just throw some rocks at your problems and remember God has them.

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I also thought it was important to take communion after I released them. Communion represents the healing work that Jesus did for me on the cross. This seemed to seal the thought that I had nothing left to hold on to and I really released it all to Him. My mother and I prayed over the cracker that represented Jesus’ body that was beaten and bruised for us. Then we prayed over the small cup of juice that represented His blood that washes us clean and protects us. We took our communion together to remember that He died for all my pain, problems, and sorrows, and He paid the price for our salvation and our healing.

Later that night, I returned home from an event and as I was taking my shoes off, I kicked a small white stone that looked like the ones from the lake where I had released my balloons. I asked my husband if he had seen a rock in the bedroom floor and he said, “Yeah, but it was after you got home from the lake.” There are no rocks around our home that looked like that stone, which made me immediately burst into tears. I realized that God had given me my memorial stone I wished for earlier that day at the altar!

I found my freedom by giving everything to the only person who can carry all my burdens and still love me endlessly! God has helped me to start finding the place for the pieces to my puzzle. I’m still working on the final picture, but I can see the beauty in the brokenness. I created a shadow box that displays memorials of my journey and it is now on the wall next to my “Secret Place” to remind me where God has brought me from. I never want to carry those pressures again, and I am refusing to listen to the enemy tell me lies! Thank you, Chief Shepherd, God Almighty, The Great I Am!

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References:

Hurnard, Hannah Hinds’ Feet on High Places: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 1993. Print.

Backus, Willilam and Chaplian, Marie Telling Yourself the Truth: Bethany House Publishers, 2000. Print.

As we enter this Christmas week during one of the most difficult years many of us have experienced, I want to take a moment to share a message I feel is important for each of us to consider as we approach turning the page of our calendars to a new year. In Psalm 25:4 TPT, we read:

Lord direct me throughout my journey so I can experience your plans for my life. Reveal the life-paths that are pleasing to you. 

Have you ever experienced a journey that did not turn out the way you imagined?  Perhaps it was a vacation trip, a move from one home to the next, a journey to spend time with your family over a holiday, or just 2020 in general!  I am sure each of you reading this could share some examples of funny stories, but also sad, scary, strange, and eventful experiences.

The reality is that our lives are a series of experiences and events that make up our journey.  So often, we get stuck in one leg of our journey and this prevents us from experiencing the fullness of all the plans the Lord has for us.  As we contemplate that thought, I want to consider the life of Mary as an example.

The journey to Bethlehem for Mary was only one leg of her journey. This part of her journey is the one we remember the most, especially at this time of the year, yet there was so much more.

We don’t know much about her life before we learn that she was visited by Gabriel, the angel, who told her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:30-31).

Obviously, Mary’s journey prior to this moment had to be important since it caused her to find favor with God. As her dramatic story continues to unfold, she learns that she will face a journey with responsibility unlike any other woman in all of history. She was obedient to a life-path that was chosen for her above her own comfort and reputation.

When it was time for delivery, Mary was again in a remarkable predicament.  While traveling to register for the census, the time came to give birth.  There was no room in the inn, so she was forced to delivery baby Jesus in a stable and lay him in a manger (Luke 2:7-20). 

The journey to Bethlehem was just part of Mary’s journey.  After Jesus’ birth, she was faced with the next challenge, which was the need to go into hiding because Herod wanted her child destroyed (Matthew 2:13).  Mary was not able to return to her home because her journey was now dictated by the destiny of the child she bore. Wow! Her faithfulness to walk out her journey was essential for His purpose to be fulfilled!

Mary was the one who encouraged Jesus to perform His first miracle, turning water into wine (John 2:1-11).  She must have been so proud as she observed Him heal the sick, multiply food for thousands, and raising the dead.  She must have felt such concern when she watched as He was rejected, ridiculed, and falsely accused.  Eventually she finds herself at one of the most difficult parts of her journey, the foot of the cross (John 19:25-27). 

Can you even imagine a mother’s heart breaking in this moment?  Her innocent Son suffered unbelievable agony as He bore stripes and died for all humanity, so we might have eternal life. Jesus was resurrected three days later, but not long after He ascended into heaven. I am sure Mary missed her Son. Mary was an amazing woman.  She walked a difficult journey, but one that benefited us all.  She went where none had gone before.  Where would we be if she had refused? Jesus fulfilled the journey He was given on this earth, partly because Mary was faithful to hers.

During the Christmas season, we celebrate the glory of God that came to us first through a baby and now exist among us in the form of the Holy Spirit.  This glory enables us to walk the journey that God created for each of us to travel.

At times, our human strength is gone and our willingness to persevere the challenges life brings wears thin. There was a process between the prediction Gabriel gave of Jesus’ birth and the promise of his death and resurrection that provides us the opportunity for salvation. The same is true for us, we might call that process our journey. 

I don’t know where you are on your journey, but just as Mary had a destiny to fulfill, so do we!  We can let her amazing story inspire us to be a person of strength and rise to the challenges we face. We can willingly accept the journey that has been chosen for us and allow God to impower us to walk out every step of our destiny.