a lesson in herbs: pests and parasites

Last spring I decided to plant an herb garden in our one-bedroom apartment.  I chose herbs because they are edible and small.  So I bought some pots, soil, seedlings, and began the experiment.

There have been several ups and downs with these herbs.  I have lost a couple plants along the way, while others grow almost effortlessly.  I have learned that basil doesn't really like to grow in-doors and that just slightly over-watering mint will spawn destructive powdery mildew.

When we moved into our current apartment in June the garden moved from the dining table to the balcony (and the basil was very thankful).  I have had to deal with a variety of pathogens and parasites from aphids to mildew to caterpillars that have all been merciless toward my little plants.  Poor peppermint, RIP.

But God has been speaking to me through this little garden; the act of getting your hands dirty and creating, cultivating life.  I have seen how desperately I need to be watered daily, and while this seems quite obvious it is intriguing to see play out.  I have also seen how completely helpless the herbs are to the attacks of these insects.  The herbs can do nothing to stop the ravenous appetites of the caterpillars or aphids.  Left alone the plants would each be overcome and die at the hands of these bugs.  The only hope for basil and oregano is that I will regularly sit down and pick off the pests.

And God showed me that my life is similar.  I still have places of selfishness and sin in my life.  These areas within me still dog me, drain me, and pull me down like these parasitic bugs.  And I am equally helpless to remove these parasitic parts of me; I am sinful and I cannot heal myself.  Thus I need a savior.

Praise God for sanctification.  But in this process I have found that my tendency is to try facilitating my own healing.  I act like for God to move in an area of my life I need to present it to Him.  While it is good to present our needs and requests to God, it's important to not fall into thinking that God is limited to only our requests and that the burden of our sanctification is dependent upon us.  My part in my healing is much smaller than I like to think.

Contrary to my habit of bringing specific requests this summer God taught me to seek Him by sitting down and just saying "Lord I have caterpillars in my soul."  I have had to stop, be still, and rather than trying to order or direct, allow the Master Gardener to pluck out my weeds and bugs; to trust Him to remove pathogens that I am not even aware of.  Praise God that we have such an attentive gardener who waters, fertilizes, prunes, and removes our parasites.