Next week we start a long overdue landscaping project at our home and I am so excited to get going. I’m excited to see the finished project but I know that a lot has to happen before I get to that day.
Part of the preparation has been some devastation. We had three trees taken out last week, one a beautiful and beloved Dogwood, and as fate would have it, it was in the most glorious bloom of it’s history when it was cut down. Why would we cut down such a beautiful tree? Because it was growing too close to the house and would eventually do damage to the foundation. It looked good, but it was destructive, so it had to go.
And there’s more destruction to come. More trees will be sacrificed, plants and shrubs will be removed and the ground will be scraped bare to prepare for new soil to receive the new trees, shrubs and plants. Why am I accepting of all this? Because I’ve seen the blueprint, I have seen the promise of what’s coming and I trust the landscape architect who drew up the plan. I also have met with him and with the young man who will do the installation, they have listened to my input and have designed a landscape that will bring me joy. I can trust the execution of the plan based on the one who designed it and the skill of the one who will bring the plan to life.
I have been undergoing a renovation in my personal life too, and like my landscape, there are things that need to be uprooted, cut down, removed, and transplanted. But before any of that can happen, there needed to be some excavation, a scraping bare to make ready new soil and new seed. It has been painful and it’s not over yet, unlike my landscaping project, it did not come with a timeline, at least not one I can see. But, I have a blueprint and I know the architect and that has made all the difference in the world!
Which brings me to the topic of our next plan, the trustworthiness of God. In our lives God is the architect, his word is the blueprint, and Jesus Christ aided by the Holy Spirit does the excavation and the installation. We can trust God and his plan for our lives because of the truth and the trustworthiness that is witnessed to in his word.
Like my new landscape will be made up of trees, shrubs, and flowering plants which will come together to form the overall beauty, we can trust the overarching plan of God for our lives based on five truths that can be supported by his word.
I can trust God because:
1. He created me.
2. I am His child.
3. He listens to me.
4. He has plans for me.
5. He has a future for me, a place prepared for me.
These are the truths I need to tell myself right now, these are the things to be whispered in the dark and proclaimed out loud in faith when my trust is drooping. There are days when all I can manage to say is, “I trust you Jesus,” and frankly, that’s enough.
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