Last Saturday, I was working out in the yard, digging up some grass for a new plant bed. I’m also starting a strawberry patch, and I got a whole pile of compost dirt for it. But that compost has no worms. It’s rich as can be, but the heat that breaks down the manure also drives off earthworms.
Just in case someone reading this isn’t a gardener, earthworms are miracle workers. Not only do their burrows aerate the soil and let water get down to the roots of things, they also eat dead leaves, manure, and even microscopic rocks, and digest it all…and what comes out the other end is amazingly rich dirt. Scientists have, in fact, found that what earthworms leave behind is 5-11 times richer than your average top soil.
So basically, if it weren’t for earthworms, the world would look like one of those end-of-the-world movies where everything in sight is dead. And that, of course, is why I want earthworms in my strawberry beds!
So as I pulled grass roots out of the first bed, and I began to find dozens and dozens of earthworms squirming through the dirt, I did what almost any gardener would do, and I began to collect them. As I worked away, shaking dirt out of grass roots and pulling worms out as I went, it occurred to me that I could be taking advantage of this relatively quiet time to talk with God. So as I pulled another earthworm out of the dirt, I paused.
Lord, what can I learn about You from this earthworm?
His answer was immediate.
“I take what is dead and cast off and broken in your life, and I make it fertile.”
The awesomeness of it overwhelmed me, and all weekend long and even now, the implications keep multiplying.
He created the earthworm in my hand…and science has watched and proven what that earthworm is capable of. Why is it then sometimes hard to believe that the One who created that worm is capable of doing the same thing in my life?
How often do we ask God to heal our brokenness? Now I’m wondering…maybe He doesn’t want to heal it. Maybe He wants to turn it into fertile soil where greater truths may grow and bloom.
How often does the devil hit us with guilt over the dead areas in our lives? So we try to cover them up…or ignore them. Or maybe we thank God for His grace that is greater than that empty, dead place. What if He looks at that dead and cast off material the same way an earthworm does? As food for Him to work His miracles upon and transform it into something that supports life.
How about fruit? We’re told to bear fruit…the fruit of the Spirit. But any organic gardener will tell you that the richer the soil is, the bigger and more delicious the fruit will be. Think of what this means. The more death and cast off material He has to work with in my life, the greater my fruit will be.
Awesome, awesome implications!
What is dead in your life? What waste do you see? Do you feel like it fills you? Let the One who created the earthworm work that same miracle upon it. For this is the hope of His calling!
And so, for today’s Multitude Monday, I am thankful for:
239. Earthworms
240. Manure and dead leaves in my life and
241. The richness that God turns it into and
242. The life it will support
243. Quiet moments while gardening
244. Loud moments when kids distract me to show how fast they can run
245. Roasting marshmallows with the kids when the work is done
246. Strawberry beds
247. Baby trees, growing in that earthworm-filled dirt and
248. The giants they will one day become
249-255. Confirmations and answers to prayer over the weekend.
Thanks for pointing me to this. 🙂 It really did bless me. 🙂 And I think God is/has been showing me this same thing, in fact. I discovered a few months ago that dirt represents death … and the implications that you've discovered are the same: death actually makes life possible. In fact, life springs from death. So many implications, as you say. In our lives, in the earth, in God Himself. The vastness of it (and unorthodox-ness of it, in many respects) is amazing. I'm so glad He does this in my life.
I love that He showed you about the earthworm. I saved a bunch of them awhile back from being scorched on the blacktop after a rain. Silly, but I really felt sorry for them. Perhaps that links to this somehow.
I've pondering so much lately that every single part of His creation is intended to display a part of Him to us. How many parts!!!! How complex He is; how many details that make up His greatness. The vastness is sometimes overwhelming. Well, many times. When I just look out the window and see how many pieces of creation I'm looking at, and then think that I really have no idea what each one is purposed to reflect … my goodness, I think I could certainly spend all of 100 lifetimes learning about Him and still have not even discovered the half of it. I am developing a love of His creation that I've never had before. I've always loved creation, but I just really appreciate it more now than I ever did.
Thanks again for the post and the heads-up. Love you!
Hey Katie, I loved your analogy….
God is up to amazing things in the garden of our hearts….
Thanks for your words at my blog… Life has been crazy busy here, keeping me from "blog visits." Glad I got by here today….