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Seed Time – Part V

PREPARATION

 “If a man cleanses himself from the latter; he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” II Timothy 2:21

I grow roses and love to care for them, but this year has been difficult. So this year I let my rose beds go to a level of disarray you won’t normally see if you come to my home.

Leaves and fallen pedals were in the feeding beds, mold had grown and not been removed and old blooms and dead stems had been left on the rose bushes. Neither the ground nor the plants were ready for the much needed rain that was about come.

I pulled out my clippers, hoe and trash bags and headed for the front yard. The ground was hard and unyielding. Difficult to work with, but I knew that there was no way the rose bushes would survive if I left them in the condition they were in before a hard rain after a long drought.

I began to clip blooms off my rose bushes, pull weeds from their feeding beds, dug down below the hard surface, prune unneeded and unwanted stems and used the hoe to get rid of the mold that had grown. It was then I realized that this is what God does to us when he’s getting ready to move us to another level.

God has to prepare us to receive what he’s going to give us. He has to prepare our land, our mindsets and our faith, to receive what we need so that we can continue to cultivate and care for our seed/idea.

Otherwise, we aren’t ready when he sends the rain, the increase, on our seed and what is needed goes unused or underutilized because we weren’t ready to receive it.

If I hadn’t prepared my rose bushes and the ground around them for the rain, the needed moisture would not have been as effective as it should have been. At this time of the year the roses need the rain in order to prepare them for their hibernation season, which is right around the corner. The roses need enough water in the ground around them to carry them through the winter months.

God has to prepare us for our winter months. Those times when hardships like loss of a job, loss of a loved one, loss of a child to drugs or an immoral lifestyle or loss of a friendship come our way. We need to allow God to prepare us for what HE KNOWS is coming our way.

The roses didn’t know it was going to rain, in fact they don’t care if it rains or not. All they know is that they need water. Any water would do for them. But as their caretaker, it’s my responsibility to know when the rain is coming, whether it’s going to be a hard violent storm or long soaking showers. It’s also my responsibility to prepare them for what I know lies ahead.

We don’t know what’s coming down the road for us. God is our caretaker. He knows what type of trials or difficulties we’re going to face, how we’re going to face them, how long we’re going to face them and how we’re going to come out of them. It’s also his responsibility to prepare us for what he knows lies ahead.

When God picks up his heavenly gardening tools and heads to our yards and begins to clip, prune, dig and pull we have to let him have his way. He’s knows what he’s preparing us for. Trust Him.

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” I Peter 1:13

Living Above Mediocrity,

Minister Anita Wamble

 

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