Roots and Shoots

Today we were doing a bit of spring gardening and consequently found these little girls hidden away in the shed.

 Following the instructions I had placed them there for the winter-all tucked away in a secret place so they could put down some roots.  For them it has been a season of establishing strong roots and gaining refreshment from the water.  During this time they have also grown upwards and are almost in flower, but it is now time to bring them into the full light and exposure so their true colours can emerge and be seen by all. And we all know what happens after flowering don’t we?  They will bear fruit or seed or whatever these little beauties do.  I’m excited.

But how foolish it would have been to bring them out too soon! 
I’m thinking of John the Baptist enduring the arid desert experience before his ministry and Jesus waiting in the sidelines thirty years in preparation for his ministry. But as I look at these plants I’m wondering where they got their nutrients from as they simply had water and nothing more; I have not been feeding them. The answer is in the previous seasons growth – stored up in that bulb. But there had to be a dying, a dormancy for the next fruit to be born!

‘And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’  Galatians 6:9 (Slightly out of context but the truth still lies there.)