Lessons on Faithfulness from a Shrub

It was the case of woman vs. shrub. The woman? Me. The shrub? An old spirea bush in my front flower bed. I had three Red-Heart Rose of Sharon bushes ready to replace the three spireas left. I had time on my hands. Soon I’d have dirt, too.

I started by borrowing one of my husband’s shovels. Then I plunged the shovel in around the bush over and over, pressing down on the shovel handle to make a lever to force the bush up from its roots. After about a half hour of this I wasn’t making much progress. We hadn’t had rain for nearly a month, so our clay-filled soil was as hard and unforgiving as rock, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t giving up!

I persevered. With each plunge, cut, dig, and lean on the shovel I hoped I was cutting through the mess. The sweat soaked my clothes and frustration mounted, so I pressed harder and harder on the shovel handle until I heard a sharp crack! The shovel handle  cracked completely off the spade. Now what?!

Well, we have more shovels. I’ll just get another one, I thought. I trudged to the garage, retrieved another shovel and started the same process all over again. 

You can probably guess where this is going…. The second shovel didn’t help me make any more progress than the first. Soon I heard another sickening crack as the second shovel handle split in two. Seconds later as I lay on my back in the grass, dejected, frustrated, and ready to quit, my husband drove in from work.

This wasn’t good; I knew these two were his favorite shovels. He wasn’t going to be happy.

Thankfully, as I sheepishly confessed right away I was relieved at his gracious response. With a smile and a gentle voice he said, “You know, you could have just said ‘Honey, could you help me?’”

Ouch! Why is it that it’s so easy for me to confuse faithfulness with stubborness? As I reflected on this case of woman vs. shrub I knew that God had some lessons for me.

 

First, I can only be faithful by God’s strength and His Spirit’s direction. I need His help and others’. In life and ministry there have been times when my husband and I were so determined to be faithful in ministry that we had a hard time letting go. Being faithful doesn’t mean digging in your heels and not being willing to move when the pillar of cloud is moving (see: Exodus 13:21-22) 

Second, sometimes I need to wait until the ground is soft before I start digging. By the time I got to digging up the other two bushes, rain had come. They came out fairly easily. Why? Because the ground was soft. I need to seek God concerning the timing of when to start doing His work with people around me. Are their hearts ready?

Finally, the most important lesson I learned from that shrub is that no matter how hard I try I will get faithfulness wrong in some way or another. I need to remember the One Who is faithful even when I am not.

And…maybe I should add a new shovel to my husband’s Christmas list this year.

“The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

 if we are faithless, he remains faithful– for he cannot deny himself.”

2Timothy 2:11-13