Well Watered
My house plants are wonderful. They bring beauty to my home and help filter the air in my house. They are both useful and beautiful. But they are also dependent. If it weren't for me, they would be, well, in house plant heaven, I suppose. ;) I love watching the soil drink the water when I feed my them - especially if it's been awhile since I've watered them. I can almost hear them thanking me as they gulp it down. (OK, not really. Don't worry, I haven't lost my mind to that extent, yet.) But I'm sure they love it as the water travels up their stems and revives their drooping leaves. I've never had to talk them into taking a drink. They naturally know what to do when the water hits them - they receive. They were created to receive. When they are dry and thirsty, they don't resist the water, they welcome it.
I'd like to say I'm the same way. But I'm not. It's actually hard for me to receive. Maybe it's the way I was raised, or my schooling, or the religion I was brought up under, but I have a hard time receiving - on several levels. It can be hard for me to receive a compliment. It can be hard for me to receive someone's help. But it can be especially hard for me to receive from God. Only He knows how much patience He has been with me over the years as He's tried to 'water' me, only to have me push back on His Love. I can tend to struggle in His Arms as He washes me with His Word. It can be hard for me to receive words like, "You are loved. You are worth much. You are precious. I LOVE YOU." I can't tell you how many times I have probably talked God out of having feelings for me.
But God knows that some 'soil' is just harder to penetrate than others. And He's sooo patient as He gently continues to give, even in our resistance. He knows that it's not that the 'plant' doesn't want to drink, it's that it hasn't understood how to. So, He'll let His Faucet continue to run over us until one day we finally give in. And oh what a moment that is! The moment we finally say "YES!" to the Water of His Presence and let Him in and let Him love us. It's a sweet surrender. And we finally see that the One we were so afraid to open up to, is the One that was there to save us all along!
And just like a house plant, we don't just drink Him in once. We are ever dependent on a God that has made us to be dependent on Him. He gives and we drink. He gives and we drink...we "are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do." (Psalm 1:3 NLT)
But God knows that some 'soil' is just harder to penetrate than others. And He's sooo patient as He gently continues to give, even in our resistance. He knows that it's not that the 'plant' doesn't want to drink, it's that it hasn't understood how to. So, He'll let His Faucet continue to run over us until one day we finally give in. And oh what a moment that is! The moment we finally say "YES!" to the Water of His Presence and let Him in and let Him love us. It's a sweet surrender. And we finally see that the One we were so afraid to open up to, is the One that was there to save us all along!
And just like a house plant, we don't just drink Him in once. We are ever dependent on a God that has made us to be dependent on Him. He gives and we drink. He gives and we drink...we "are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do." (Psalm 1:3 NLT)
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