Blooms Can Be Deceiving

This past April I pruned one of our azaleas that was long over due. At the time I thought that I had destroyed it when I looked at what I had done. Now it is fall and as I look at the plant I realized that it is thriving and will produce many blooms this spring. I found something that I had written when I did that and wanted to share.

"This morning I decided to go out and do some much needed pruning on a certain azalea bush. It probably hasn't been pruned in 7-10 years so it had really spread. I am not opposed to yard work but it is just that -- work. I don't mind doing it on a nice spring day before it gets so very warm in the afternoon.

Today as I was pruning, God does what He usually does when I am in the yard working - He starts talking to me. I think He really likes it when I am in the yard and He is saying - YES she is not in front of that "darn" computer - maybe He doesn't say "darn". :-)

Anyway, as I cut and cut and cut, I got into some places that had some dead briars and they really hurt if I wasn't careful as I cut and pulled them out. They were the kind that you didn't have to guess whether it was a briar - brown, ugly thorns and really hurt if you didn't pull them just so. However, I noticed some others that looked rather prickly and removed them. They were "green" and the thorns were not as mature. They "pricked" me but did not "stab" me like the others (stay with me here, there is a point to all of this). I noticed as I continued to cut that there was this other "plant" growing amongst my precious azalea that had a little bloom on it. Interesting, I thought. Wonder what kind of plant this is? Yep, you're right - the "briar" bush in its beginning stages. Thorns no too bad at all and it had this precious little bloom on it. I could actually find the base of the "plant" and pull and tug on the root and get the whole thing out of the ground. I still had to be careful as I did it.

As I stepped back and looked at my work, I thought - my poor azalea looks pretty bad right now but I have gotten some of the "nasty" stuff out and next spring it will be beautiful.

This is what God said as I experienced all of the above:

1. Don't wait 7 years to clean the trash out of your life. (God said 'It only makes it harder'.)
2. Just because it has a "bloom" doesn't make it pretty. (God said: 'Look at the source - sin can look pretty right at first'.)
3. The longer the "blooming" briar plant stays there, the nastier the thorns become and it hurts more when you remove it. (God said: 'That's what happens when a "little" sin stays in your life, it grows and when I try to get it out, it is hard to pull on it and get it out because the thorns grab hold of  me and want to stick in me - it doesn't want to let go'.)
4. I don't need to wait until it is a nice spring day to cut back the old stuff so new buds will come next year . (God said: 'It is a daily thing to come before me and confess your sins - repent and move on'.)
5. Those briars do start out green and hang on for a very long time, they have roots too. (God said: 'Get to the source of the "sin" and get it by its roots and pull it out!)

Just some food for thought. Happy Gardening!"