Yesterday, it rained heavily.
By the time we got home, I stepped into the garden and saw some of my plants looking… terrible. The rain had beaten them down so badly that they were bent over. Some of them looked like they had given up.
I looked at them and thought, “Ah. These ones have suffered o.”
But today, there was no rain.
The sun was out, and when I stepped into the garden, I smiled.
Because the same plants that looked so beaten down yesterday were standing again. Not perfectly straight. Not exactly the way they were before the rain. But standing.
They looked good. They had a different kind of vibe to them. They were growing, thriving, doing their plant thing like yesterday’s storm had never happened.
And then I thought about us.
Sometimes life rains.
Not the gentle kind of rain that makes you grateful for your garden. I mean the kind that comes with thunder, lightning, wind, and enough water to make you wonder if the sky has decided to empty everything on you at once.
One thing happens. Then another. Then another.
And you find yourself bent over under the weight of it all.
There are seasons when you genuinely wonder, “God, am I going to be like this forever?”. You start to sound like David with his questioning. I have news for you… You won’t be like that forever.
You don’t have to stay bent.
The interesting thing about some of the plants that were bent over is that they are plants whose stems can put out roots. They can grow from cuttings. So even the parts that bent may eventually become how the plant is strengthened or even how the plant multiplies.
Isn’t that something? The very thing that looked like damage may become part of its growth.
Sometimes what bends us becomes part of what strengthens us.
When the sun comes out, you may not stand exactly the way you did before the storm. You may look different. You may carry a few bends. You may have learned things you didn’t know before.
But you are standing. And that matters.
You may not be who you were before that season(in fact, I guarantee that you won’t be), but that doesn’t mean you are worse.
You may actually be wiser. More discerning. More grounded. More dependent on God. More aware of your strength, and even more aware of His.
And when another storm comes, you may shake a little. You may bend. But you don’t have to collapse the way you did the first time. Because your roots have gone deeper.
That is one of the things I love about gardening. You can spend an ordinary afternoon looking at plants and suddenly realise that God has been preaching to you through them all along.
The plant that was bent yesterday is standing today.
And perhaps you need that reminder too.
Whatever season you are in right now, you don’t have to stay bent.
The rain will not last forever.
The sun will come out again.
And when it does, you will not look exactly like you did before.
You will look different.
You will look refined.
You will look stronger.
But you will grow.
And you will flourish.
So, take heart.
You don’t have to stay bent.
