The Bamboo

I have just recently gave my blog a face lift. I chose the picture of the bamboo for my background not only because the picture produces a tranquil feel, but also ironically the growing process of the bamboo has become very symbolic in my life right now. Why? The whole process of how the bamboo grows represents, quite fittingly, the season that my family is in right at this moment.

There are many metaphorical stories in the Bible that refer to some kind of farming. It talks about reaping and sowing. Cultivating. Planting. Working hard for the harvest. It talks about different seasons, and giving the soil/land a rest.

My generation has no idea how hard it was to raise a family, and/or work a farm only 50 years ago. My grandmother would wash cloth diapers for TWINS as she never had a washer or dryer. The years of hard, hard work my grandparents did by the sweat of their brow didn't pay off until many years later.

We live in a culture of wanting things either now or immediate, and we want it done fast and promptly. The technology that is available to us today, make that very possible. While there are many advantages to this method, there are of course disadvantages as well. I know that I am guilty of not knowing, understanding or even appreciating the real, hard, dirty work that my grandparents' generation had to endure. I believe that that generation understood, and appreciated patience, and time. Something that I feel has been lost somewhat today. All this brings me to my point:

THE BAMBOO. It takes the bamboo five years to even sprout from the ground, from the time one has planted the seed. Then in one year it will grow up to 90 feet! I can't imagine the very first person who may have planted the bamboo seed. Imagine with me for a second. They plant the seed, water it, nurture it, and day after day, year after year they see absolutely NO results. I'm sure they had a time of giving up, only to find some green life sprouting above the earth.

I have to say I can relate to how that first bamboo farmer must have felt. I believe that our thoughts are seeds, that turn into words which turn to our actions, which in evidently lead us to our destiny. Andy Stanley said wisely, "Decisions, not intentions determine our destiny."

During that time of waiting, what the bamboo farmer couldn't see was the most important part of the growing process for the bamboo tree. In order for it to be one of the strongest trees in the world it has to grow strong roots that grow deep, deep into the earth. For four years the planted seed starts to germinate growing roots that dig deep into the ground. Then those roots start to branch out empowering more roots to grow, and so forth. And until a strong foundation of strong roots have been etched into the deep ground, then and only then is the bamboo tree ready to sprout up. When that tree starts making it's way out of the earth....there is no stopping it.

I believe that God Himself has deposited seeds in each one of us. Each seed is valuable, unique, valued, precious, and custom made just to the individual. Like a natural seed that is planted in the ground, if it is uprooted prematurely it is unable to blossom to it's full maturation, resulting in either death or only part of it's growth potential. The same is with the "God deposited seeds". If I don't allow the seeds that God has deposited within me to develop properly, and what I mean by properly I mean allow time, patience, stretching, and cultivation all to transpire, these precious seeds will not be able to produce what God intended them to do. This looks like: developing character, maturing, repenting, refinement, forgiving and letting it go.

Lastly, the whole purpose of seeds being planted is for them to flourish, and bloom. If we don't actually PLANT these seeds that God so lovingly deposited within us, how can they flourish?  It is our job to make that happen. Mistakes will be made, pain will be felt, but I personally think the biggest mistake, and the greatest pain would be if one gave up too quickly, resulting in an incomplete bloom. If you are not seeing any results in your life right now, don't panic, as you never know what God is doing under the surface.