The Nursery of God
Written by John Wayne Seitzler
“Stagnant, stunted, wilted, scarred, scorched, shredded, torn.” Do any of these descriptors pair with your Christian journey? For any gardeners, horticulturists, or botanists, you will recognize that these verbs are some common signs and symptoms of struggling plants.
In John 15, Jesus defines our relationship with God as that of vine (God), and branches (us). Jesus was tapping into some incredible imagery that remains really accessible for us today. With this imagery being used, we can lean into some holy imagination to take assessment of our own branch health and hopefully identify a management strategy of treatment to restore the notched and gnawed branches of our lives.
God’s ecosystem is quite diverse; deserts, gardens, mountains, valleys, streams, so on and so forth. Within God’s ecosystem God has designed a nursery for the ailing plants. A place where we can retreat, be tended to, be restored, renewed, pruned where needed, and be ministered to by the good Vinedresser. God’s choice nursery to sow these seeds of transformation into the lives of His people is the wilderness. We see this thread throughout the canon of scripture; Hagar being ministered to by God in the wilderness, Moses called at the burning bush at Mount Horeb which was located at the edge of the desert, Elijah receiving direction from the whisper of God on the mountain. God’s nursery where we are met, repaired, called, equipped, and tended to by God is often in wilderness experiences.
The management strategy for our treatment is simple, we need to spend some time in God’s nursery, we need to be cared for by the Vinedresser in the outdoors. How often are you checking yourself into God’s nursery? We might not necessarily need the extended stay of a five-day backpacking trip or an eight-day sea kayaking voyage. We might need a day ski touring in the backcountry. We might need an hour inside a park. We might need 30 minutes on a walk to tell the Vinedresser of our condition, of our health, and of our need. We might need 15 minutes in our backyard to receive some soil care for our souls.
Come, all you who are weary, stagnant, scarred, you with broken branches, you who have seen no fruit, check in to the nursery of the outdoors and be restored by God. The end result of our time in the nursery is promised. We will see propagation - a life that bears fruit.
