It doesn't just happen

A constant array of flowers decorate our neighbor's yard.  It is a sight to behold, blooms from springtime until late autumn, as each type of plant moves into its prime.  It appears that when one group dies off, another takes its place.

When I have a question about plants, trees and flowers, I don't have to google it, but just chat with my neighbor.  She and her husband are continually working in their yard, weeding, watering, pruning, moving plants, dividing bulbs, and adding new varieties, often donated by others.  Several times a year where the sidewalk and driveway meet, she places small paper bags filled with cuttings and divided bulb, freely offered to those who pass by, thereby beautifying the rest of the neighborhood.

She reminds me of my grandmother who had a garden, no matter where we lived, no matter the soil.  I still have irises that were transplanted into her garden in Texas when my mother was a little girl before the Great Depression.  Every time we move, I leave some behind in the yard, give some to friends, and transplant the others at our new location.

My grandmother was the one with the green thumb.  I don't know much about keeping a garden alive, but I do know this:   it doesn't just happen.

I envied my neighbor's garden this morning as I ran by, but I also realize her hard work, focus, and intentional efforts in producing such a dazzling array.  These plants did not just suddenly emerge, carefully arranged, and nurtured.  It was deliberate.

I know many godly people who God uses in extraordinary ways through their selflessness and extreme faithfulness.  They are the quiet ones who simply go about serving people -- fostering and adopting children, creating opportunities for others, befriending people no matter their place in life, and living out their faith in amazing venues.  I heard one person describing an incredible friend of mine, "Oh, you know, she is just special that way."

But I know that she really is no different than anyone else.  She just has a strength that is not her own.

It doesn't just happen.  Like my friend, these godly people are those who dig deep into Scripture on a daily basis and are nourished in the Word, these are the prayer warriors who lay their lives continually before Him, these people are intentional in their spiritual pursuit and have been transformed by Christ.  It is not what they do that brings them closer to God;   it is their relationship with Christ that drives who they are and what He does through them.

And it radiates from within.


Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
     whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.

                                Jeremiah 17. 7-8