Hello, Sweet Potato!
We all have them in our kitchen: potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions. They are tucked away in a corner somewhere and occasionally forgotten. I have a cute basket in the corner, under the coffee pot stand where I keep mine. I have a tendency to stretch my amateur cooking muscles from time to time so onions and potatoes are a common commodity as well as the rare purchase of sweet potatoes or red potatoes. Yet, when life gets overwhelming or busy, I tend to overlook them. Sometimes the odor gives them away, or I run across them and they are past palatable, shriveled and growing roots. In the past I just threw them away in the trash can and angrily wrote them off as wasted money.
A few days ago I happened to look in my basket and discovered three sweet potatoes growing roots. I was so preoccupied with myself and what I was going through that I set them on the counter and continued about my day. Come Sunday I saw them again…and while still in my despair, I couldn’t get them out of my head. The blog I wrote before about “Believing in the Seed” resonated in me. Remember, some seeds are tossed into the rocks where they form roots but have no soil in which they need in order to flourish, so they die. (Word of God is heard but not heeded. Luke 8:4-15) The same thing happened with a bag of small red potatoes a few weeks ago. I discovered the bag and almost threw them in the trash like I usually do, but it hit me. I’ve got a garden. This is how they start…why not throw them in the ground and see what they do? So I did. And now, they are thriving. Every day I see them flourishing and wait in anticipation to dig them up and reveal my bounty. It’s a great feeling. Not only did I not waste them, they will multiply, and I have the added satisfaction of tending to them and nurturing them while they grow.
The past few days have been extremely hard for me…the hardest yet…so hard I cannot even talk about it. The road I’ve been on has been so…vivid…so paved with pain and joy and darkness and light. It’s hard to look in the mirror at who I really am. I’m learning so much that it gets overwhelming at times, yet I know He’s there in the midst of it. I know He wants to shower me with blessings. He is revealing things to me that I need to accept.
I truly believe that everyone has good in them and when I start to care for someone it’s incredibly hard for me to give up, even if it’s at the expense of myself. So what does that have to do with those sweet potatoes, you ask? Well, for some people the roots are there, but they need to be transplanted into the soil to continue their growth. There can be no fruit without going to the next phase. (Galatians 5:22-23) After the process of darkness has done its’ job it is time to move on to the next step. But some people don’t want to move on. They refuse. They choose to stay in the darkness. They get comfortable with the darkness, maybe blame others or even themselves for why they are there, and they curse it while still doing nothing to work towards that next phase. Whether out of fear of change, acceptance of their wrongs, or the ability to accept God’s will over their own, they refuse to move, throwing away themselves and ultimately their happiness, right along with it. While it’s a good thing that I care so much and believe in others, I have to limit it to those that bear fruit. I am weak but I am ready to move on. I have to be transplanted and remove myself from the darkness no matter how much I love the person I am leaving there. I cannot be subject to the pain that someone is inviting into their life by continuing to be content in the darkness, especially when they proclaim to know God. I’m not sure how I’ll feel once I’m in the soil, but I do know that I want out of the painful darkness. God only has good things waiting for us if we will listen to Him. He can help us bear fruit, He wants us to bear fruit, that is what each of us are meant to do: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”John 15:5, 8. He doesn’t expect perfect, but He does want us to follow Him…to trust Him. What’s really odd about this is, I wasn’t sure how this whole story ended, but now I do. This is how God speaks to me. And boy, sometimes you have to be an extremely patient and thorough listener.
God never wants us to feel wasted. He will never throw us out. If we are in darkness it is because of our own choosing. Some may need to remain in the darkness for awhile before they understand, but some of us know what to do. Again I’m reminded of my blog on how we are like children stomping our feet wanting it our way when He is revealing to us our faults and giving us a way out. We just have to reach for it, no matter how scary it is. He wants us to sprout from the darkness in our lives and grow onto the next phase. He wants us to graduate from those experiences. We rejoice in the darkness because that is where we have the ability to grow! (Romans 5:3-4) He doesn’t want us to keep throwing ourselves away, returning to the same habits and same feelings of pain. He wants us to bear fruit in our lives. And He can help because He is the Almighty Gardener. But we have to listen, no matter how hard that is.
Fruit in our lives leads to things like love, goodness, peace, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) The devil doesn’t make us do anything, we each have a choice. I’ve said before that freewill isn’t free and this is what I mean. My way always seems to lead to the same pain and hurt, but His will wants me to be free from that. So, I refuse to be afraid anymore. I refuse to give up on myself. I am reaching for every form of help and support more feverishly than ever before: books, bible, note cards, Christian music, spiritual guidance, friends, prayers, websites, you name it. Today I even posted on Facebook that I need prayers. This may all seem desperate, but I am! I want to get off this worn path that I’ve been on. I want to be free from the pain that keeps repeating in my life. I WANT TO BE TRANSPLANTED! I have faith. Strong faith and I’m using it in every form I know possible. I may have no clue what the future holds or how I’ll feel about someone tomorrow, but I do know God is here, and somehow, I’ll be okay…God wants to see each of us flourish. He wants to nourish us, tend to us and help us grow. He wants us all to bear good fruit. Life is a continuous process. Stop throwing yourself away.
-
About the Author:
Angie is the author of the blog “My Walk With God“. At 40 Angie is a single, divorced mother of 3 children ranging in ages from 21 to 16. Having suffered through addiction, divorce, abuse, depression and sin, she finds her strength by walking with God. She is a programmer/analyst and enjoys photography both as a side profession and as a hobby/release. Her current passion is a photography collection she calls “How Great Thou Art“. She also enjoys bonding with her kids, reading, traveling, exploring, gardening, and anything outdoors. The youngest of 8 siblings, she was a high school drop out, yet now holds 2 Associates Degrees and 1 Bachelor’s Degree and is currently earning her Masters. Check out more about her walk with God at: angnic.wordpress.com
Article Source