Chosen Grace

Sometimes I wonder what the Garden of Eden looked like. I think about what wonders Adam and Eve saw and touched. And I sometimes wonder how beautiful a garden it must have been- with colorful flowers and trees bearing sweet fruit. I bet it was a pretty amazing sight to behold. But, even with all of its glory, it eventually succumbed to The Fall (Genesis 3).

However, although the physical Garden of Eden is no longer with us, we all have our own gardens that are constantly being tilled by God: the garden of our hearts. This garden is important because God is our Master Gardener. He waters us with His living Word. He allows His Sonshine to intercede for us- allowing us to bask freely in his everlasting grace.

And while God does all of that, He sometimes will till our gardens more intensely, putting us through something I call the uprooting process.  In this process, God is pulling up bad weeds that may have surfaced in your life. It could be anything from friends to old habits that are just hard to break.

To be honest with you, I’ve been through the uprooting process a few times in my Christian walk- and it doesn’t feel fun at all. It feels like God is simply taking things away and challenging how you are used to operating in a vengeful way. But, God isn’t doing that at all. Instead- He is pruning us ever so gently. The Gospel of John talks about this:

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. –John 15:2 NIV

Jesus was dropping bombs when he told the disciples this. In this chapter, Jesus describes Himself as the true vine and the Father as the vinedresser (John 15:1). This is important because Jesus knew that we would undergo pruning (which is the same thing as uprooting).

Jesus knew that pruning was and is hard work- but with hard work comes great reward. The second part of the verse above mentions bearing more fruit. God prunes and uproots bad things from our lives so that good fruit can grow in its place. And what better fruit is there than the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. gentleness, goodness, self-control, and faithfulness (Galatians 5:22-23).

Think about it this way: maybe God is uprooting a habit to teach you self-control. Maybe he’s uprooting some friends in your life to teach you about true joy.

As God uproots things to plant new ones, he doesn’t want you to see it as a strict discipline. Instead, He encourages us to see it as a healthy discipline full of love. The writer of Hebrews spoke about this below:

“And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.’” –Hebrews 12:5-6

Because Jesus paid the ultimate price for us, God has bought us and sees us as His children A good and caring father disciplines their children. In the same way a father disciplines their children, so our Master Gardener uproots things in our lives. Not to harm us, but to ultimately make us better servants of Him. God sees us as His precious creation, so he takes his time as he tills and mends our gardens.

And as the uprooting season takes time, the lessons learned will be worth it. As he reveals more roots that must be chopped down- he does it ever so carefully with grace and mercy. And when the uprooting season is over- you’ll come out blooming better. You’ll be able to grow in places you never could before the Master Gardener uprooted some things. Trust me-I know.

So as I end this post today- I encourage you to embrace the uprooting season. Whether you are in one, just coming out of one, or haven’t faced one yet- stay encouraged. Know that God will never uproot anything from your life to harm you, but to better you. For God withholds no good thing from his children (Psalm 84). He does all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

With love and a new appreciation for being uprooted,

Malaysia =).