By: Phaedra T. Anderson
I was out sick for a few days with what I believed to be the flu. I went to visit my mom one day and was at her house for the next five days trying to nurse myself back together from body aches and pain, congestion, sore throat, ear aches etc. If you named the symptom I had it, but due to my absence from home I was unable to water my plant and when I finally returned my Peace Lily was good and dead. It looked hopeless showing severe signs of dehydration. Some of the leaves were brown and wilted. The stems drooped so low that some of the branches broke due to the weight. While some of the other leaves detached themselves altogether and were now on the floor. I was upset, but there wasn’t much that I could really do about it, besides hydrate it and hope that in some way that it could be revived.
So before I went to bed I did all that I knew to do which was to water it. I also looked at the scripture that lays against my plant, “My only hope is in you. ~ Psalm 39:7 ~ and I put my hope in God, because ONLY HE could do what I couldn’t, which was bring this plant back to life and when I woke up the next morning my plant was ALIVE!!!! The plant that they told me to throw away, because it was dead. I remember her saying, “Just throw it out and buy another one!” Although that was the easiest thing to do, it wasn’t necessarily the best thing. It also reminded me how people are so quick to tell others to throw things away that “they” haven’t made an investment in; throw the marriage away that “they” haven’t made an investment in; close the business down that “they” haven’t made an investment in; sell the house that “they” haven’t made an investment in and so forth and so forth, but that plant represented life to me and it beautified my home in a such a way that only nature could. I spent months nurturing it and caring for it and I didn’t just want to “throw it away” without given it a chance to be revived.
The plant that looked worthless and hopeless now showed all signs of life, and I share this to say beloved, when your situation looks useless and lifeless, sometimes all you can do is your part and give GOD time to do HIS, because just because its dead today doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be dead tomorrow. Give GOD time to do HIS part BEFORE you pull the plug on it altogether; give GOD time to do HIS part BEFORE you walk away from it for good, because although it may be showing signs of death…there isn’t a situation so dead that GOD doesn’t have the power to bring it back to life, and its amazing what GOD can do in the midnight hour.
I would not have known how strong my plant was had I thrown it away too soon, and beloved, you won’t know how strong your marriage is, if you walk away from it too soon, because just like my plant was able to take the stress of dehydration….your marriage can take the stress of exsiccosis, if you would just begin to water it again, put Psalm 39:7 on it, give GOD time to do HIS part and trust and believe that JOY comes in the morning.
Plant images courtesy of Phaedra T. Anderson
Featured image courtesy of Ogo from Pexels
