Even better than gardening with me, is gardening with God. He's not only the Master caretaker, but he's also the creator of everything. I learned something about gardening while browsing through his Instruction manual yesterday.
Isaiah 26:3 is a verse that I've known and quoted for years, but I learned a couple of new things that Isaiah was saying when he wrote: "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in you"
First is the phrase "in perfect peace". In the Hebrew language that Isaiah used, it reads: "in peace, selah, peace." Selah is a Hebrew punctuation that means "stop here for a moment and think about what I just said." So the verse reads like this, "you will keep him in peace (stop here for a moment and think about what I just said), peace." I like that!
The other thing that I learned was about the word "keep". It's a gardener's word that means "to cultivate, care for, nurture, prune and feed like a vinedresser would do for his precious grape vines." Do you see the process here? It's not that God promises to instantly solve all of our problems; rather he will use them, as we focus on his loving plans for us, to add to the quality and fruitfulness of our lives. Sometimes that involves pruning, and sometimes it is his gentle nurture and nourishment. But the ultimate result will be our fruitfulness, and that's what life is all about!
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