Saturday, February 21
He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. (Isaiah 58:11)
Forty years ago, my father planted four oak trees in our front yard. Actually, they looked more like skinny sticks. Each day, my sisters and I took turns watering them. As we hosed the roots, my father made us wait until the water puddled into a circle. We often rolled our eyes. “Let the water run” Dad called out to us from the front porch. All these years later, the trees are tall pillars that adorn my childhood home. Deeply rooted, they are strong and stately.
This Lent, soak up God’s strength. Become Lovely, rooted in Him.
© By Nancy Jo Sullivan
Thanks Nancy Jo! Love the depth of the line from your father, “Let the water run.” Kind of let’s us know that Our Father does know what is best for us, den if we think we know better and sometimes roll our eyes. Great insight for Lent.
I read the reflection this evening. I love the imagery of a watered garden with trees standing firm and tall. My sons wrote a song about how God’s love refreshes and heals us like a watered garden, His love healing our hearts like the water refreshing the scorched places of the earth… I hope it ministers to you like it has to me.
http://www.thecrossroadspursuit.com/clothe-me-in-white/ Watered Garden
This reminds me of Psalm1:3…He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruits in its season and its leaf does not wither..In all that he does he prospers…W could not understand why we kept coming back to this verse when we had the bible study. Now I get it…
Psalm 1:3 provides such a beautiful image for us, doesn’t it? Gods loving presence is like a stream that refreshes us, each day. In him, we grow and mature and bear fruit. We become all we were meant to be. Thanks for the wonderful thoughts.