Garden Goodness

My garden journey has taught me many things. But today, today I learned the biggest lesson of all.

Today I saw that even from a broken, withering vessel, God brings forth life. 

Is that not a beautiful sentiment? I had looked at my garden about 2 weeks ago. The cucumbers were withering and appeared to be done. All the leaves were crumpled and brown. So, I wrote the garden off. It was a good run, and we will make a new one next year, I thought. I was just waiting to mow it all down because the new renters don't want to garden. And today, my MIL was looking at our yard and we walked back to the garden plot. And lo and behold, there was a bunch of cucumbers, the vines were withered and so were the leaves. But the cucumbers had grown gigantic! Some of them are massively OVERGROWN. Probably too seedy to eat. And I heard so strongly, see what I can do with broken, ugly, withered things? I can make beauty from the ashes. I do this for my children just as I did it for these plants.
Some of the greatest testimonies of Jesus' changing Grace come from the mouths of people who were once broken. And those testimonies/those stories are the most beautiful. Those individuals whose hearts broke for the cause of Christ have incredible stories of the amazing changing power of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

God doesn't look at our outward appearance. He doesn't look at how much you attend church, or how much you give back to the community. He first looks at our hearts. We could do all sorts of good works, but if our hearts aren't first aligned with God, our good deeds aren't worth anything to the Lord.

Isaiah 64:6
But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.

The above phrase "filthy rags" truly translates from Greek as "menstrual rags" or "bloody rags". Vulgar? Definitely. But It illustrates just exactly the worthlessness of good works without faith in Jesus Christ. In modern day language, filthy rags would be the equivalent to a dirty pad/tampon. First, we are saved the Grace because Jesus' bloodshed on the cross. Then because of the Holy Spirit living within us, we have to desire to do good works before the Lord.  Our good works and our following the rules do NOT save us. And I truly believe that the Bible makes it clear that only through Jesus are we saved. It isn't do good works and then we are saved. Our salvation doesn't rest in a long list of things NOT to do and another list of things TO DO. We are saved and the good works come when we follow after Jesus.

Romans 3:27-30
27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 [a]For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works [b]of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the [c]circumcised [d]by faith and the[e]uncircumcised through faith is one.

Seriously, my eyes fill with tears as I contemplate the beauty of God. The grace that He gives us each and every day. And today my garden was a reminder of what God can do if we let Him work in our hearts & our lives.

If you sit here with a heavy heart, I urge you to take a moment with the Lord. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you. If you seek Him, you WILL find Him. No matter who you are or where you come from, no matter what you have done, God sees YOU. He knows YOU.
One of my most favorite Bible chapters, PSALM 139 talks about God searching us and knowing us. And Rebecca St. James has a song based on this Bible verse and it says:

You search me, you know me, you see my every move, there's nothing I could ever do to hide myself from you. You know my thoughts, my fears and hurts. My weaknesses and pride. You know what I am going through and how I feel inside. But even though you know, you will always love me. Even though you know, you'll never let me go. I don't deserve your love. But you give it freely. You will always love me, even though you know.

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.