Inspection Tour

Every morning, as soon as it is light enough, I take my coffee to the garden to make what my husband calls "my inspection tour."  It's partly inspection and partly rejoicing to see how things are prospering under my care.  I know each plant by name and characteristics; I know whether each one needs sun, shade, water, or dry environment.  I stop in front of each section of the garden and study what is happening there.  Are weeds threatening new plants?  Is something doing poorly, needing water or a change of setting?  Are buds forming and starting to bloom?

Today, I noticed two gorgeous Asian Lilies blooming for the first time---but the Duranta I had planted them next to last year had grown so much that it overshadowed both lilies so they could not be seen.  Their beauty was unnoticed, hidden under a "bushel basket," so to speak.  So, even though they both seemed to be flourishing where they were, I decided to move them to a more open space where they could be seen and admired.  Once I moved the deep orange lily to the back of the bed, it took my breath away as the morning sun backlighted it, making it shine and glow.  I'm sure the lily had no understanding of my "cruelty" in moving it from its comfortable and shady spot to the open garden, but I knew what I was doing.

I cannot imagine that the Creator and Artificer of Life is any less solicitous and caring about us than I am about my garden.  I am sure that every morning and every evening, He is also doing an "inspection tour" to see how His children are faring.  And there are times when He has to move us out of our comfort zone, as happened in Hurricane Katrina, for example. 

One year after Katrina, a newspaper in Texas conducted a survey of the people who had evacuated New Orleans and re-located in Texas.  They asked two questions:  (1) Are you better off today than you were before Katrina?  and (2) if you could, would you go back to your life before Katrina?   Guess what the results were:  76% of the people surveyed said that they were better off after Katrina and they would not choose their previous life before the storm. 

In the Book of Zephaniah, the Lord says through the prophet:

I will sweep away everything

from the face of the earth...

I will sweep away both men and animals;

I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea...

I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all who live in Jerusalem.

I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal,

the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests---

those who bow down on the housetops

to worship the starry host....

But I will leave within you the meek and the humble,

who trust in the name of the Lord...

They will eat and lie down

and no one will make them afraid....

Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands hang limp.

The Lord your God is with you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing....

I will give them praise and honor

in every land where they were put to shame.

When the Lord sees weeds multiplying to the extent that they are taking over the land, sometimes, for the sake of the "meek and the humble," He has to "sweep away" everything so that we can start over, as we all had to do after Katrina.  And sometimes, we wonder if He knows what He is doing in moving us about -- but a year later, we can look back and say, "Yes, I am better off now than I was before."  He knows what He is doing; He is the Master Gardener!