Planted in Place

During a wildflower tour in the abundant Flint Hills of Kansas, I learned about the various grasses and plants that live there. God, in one of his creative jaunts, planted wild strawberries, coneflowers and goldenrod in the tallgrass prairie. Many of the wildflowers and grasses contain essential nutrients to feed and heal animals as well as human beings. But driving through the Flint Hills, we may fail to see the beauty of the prairie or to appreciate the way God planned it.

If we were to find some of those wildflowers and grasses in our well-manicured lawns, we would pull them. “A weed – yuck – grab the chemicals and destroy the roots.” But as our tour guide told us, “A weed is simply a plant out of place.”

God places us in particular places during particular seasons of life. Whether we think geographically or within the broader scope of life’s experiences, we are planted for a reason. God wants us to be spiritually nourished with the Word, with His presence, with music and nature and friends. He longs for us to grow closer to Him, to find our strength within the joy of His being and then share that joy with others. He wants us to produce and reproduce and praise the Master Gardener. He has designed us with particular gifts and talents so that we can bear His good news of love to a hungry world.

If we follow what He has told us to do and give our all to growth, then we will see the results of a bountiful harvest. We’ll flourish like the wildflowers and grasses of the prairie, reflecting the beauty of sunsets and the glory of thunderstorms.

But if we let every wind of change and every nudge of the flesh move us from the place God put us, we’ll become weak and useless – producing nothing but empty pods of legalism and strife. In the proper place, with the best God has to offer, we produce fruit. But planted out of place in the trails of rebellion, we become weeds.

I long to bear fruit. What about you?