The Storms....

I'm not much for gardening.  In fact, the past few years have been packed so full of, well honestly surviving that I haven't given much thought.  I guess that's not true.  I've given it a lot of thought.  I have books, and read blogs, and have recently added two square foot garden boxes full of "miracle mix"  but I haven't taken the time to plant.  Partially because it seems a bit late in the season, and partially because I'd rather not try than fail at something.  It's an age old weakness of mine- when I'm not absolutely convinced of my ability to succeed, sometimes I just don't even try.  Anyhoo- I do have a small flower spot in front of my front porch.  A few years ago my handsome husband hooked some overgrown shrubs to the back of the wrangler and pulled those suckers right out of the ground.  In the space that remained we planted some dwarf shrubs, colorful plants, lilies, and three of my most favorite flower of all- hydrangeas.  I absolutely hate weeding that flower box.  I get itchy, and dirty, and the weeds seem endless no matter how often I do it.  They are strong, and seemingly strategically placed so that they entwine themselves in the beauty that is my garden.

We've had a lot of storms this year....  Thunder that rolls so much that the pictures on my walls rattle and shake.  Lightning so electrifying that it illuminates the sky all around in a big splendor of majesty.  Driving wind, and rain so plentiful that it pools in the streets and the gutters can't keep up.  I like summer storms.  They seem big and powerful keep the earth around me from being so dry in the oppressive heat.  My children however, especially my furry one, do not like the storms.  They are frightened in the midst.  We do our best to comfort them, and assure them that we are safe inside our home, the peaceful dwelling where we abide.  However when a storm is so big it shakes the walls of your home, it threatens your security.

It's a lot like that with spiritual storms too...  Emotional crisis, unyielding grief, and suffering loss that seem to shake the literal walls of our soul.  The devastating things in life that we we grapple and struggle with and don't know how to process.  The fear, and the rage that swirl around us in the aftermath sometimes of unspeakable pain.... It takes our breath away, and if we are honest, we are shaken... and frightened in the midst.

We had one of those storms today.  We drove through it, barely making it to the car before the heavens opened and the rain poured down.  The thunder crashed and lighting was visible even in the light of day. The clouds were ominous.  It poured and poured.  The dog trembled... the walls shook and the rain came down.  In the aftermath, when the sky was dry and all was quiet there was evidence of the storm.  Scattered debris, and the ground all around was saturated.  My grass is enjoying the rain.  Even in the midst of storms, life grows... The tree we thought for sure was dead has produced beautiful flowers. I reached down and grabbed a tall weed in my flowerbed.  Without any effort at all, it came up- roots and all taking with it rich deep soil, which was loose from all the rain. I was amazed.  I pulled one after another, weeds that just days ago seemed firmly cemented in the soil, marking their rightful place my garden came up without any struggle at all, they surrendered their place amongst the flowers.

I thought about the storms in my life, and the lives of those I love.  The unexplainable losses, the grief, the tears, the threats and the fears.  And I  wondered.... could those storms loose the deep bitter roots in my spirit?  The unbelief, the independence, the pride, the un-forgiveness.  The roots that grow deep, and expertly in the soil of my soul.  The strategic root systems that steal the sun, the nourishment, the living water that choke the life out of my spirit just like the weeds in my garden.....  Can the very storms that cause me struggle set me free?  Because the storms don't plant the weeds, and if I let them, they might just till the ground enough to uproot them.  If I let the moment pass, they just give life to the very things that seek to destroy me....

I want to be like a tree.... who's roots grow deep and are not threatened.  Who will stand strong in the midst of the storms... because, while we're on this side of heaven, the thunder will surely roll.

³ He is like a tree planted beside streams of water^[d]
that bears its fruit in season^[e] 
and whose leaf does not wither. 
Whatever he does prospers.
Psalm 1:3 HCSB