The Garden (Part 4)

The tiny violets returned to the King and told Him what had happened.  He nodded sadly as they described how the angry lilies had pushed them down in the dirt.  They asked Him, "Why do the lilies feel so angry?"  The King replied in a low voice, "They are afraid.  The lilies were put in charge of teaching the flowers how to come to Me and get the good things they need.  When the flowers became afraid, the lilies felt like it was their job to make everyone happy and healthy.  They tried to do a good job, but they were trying to do a job that was meant for someone else.  They were trying to do My job, and it's a job no one else can do.  When they realized they could not do the work, the lilies became afraid, and they made bad choices out of that fear.  Now they are in a much worse position, and they feel that they are the only ones who can fix it.  If they would just come to Me, I would help them.  But they are afraid of letting Me help them.  That is why they are angry at you.  You have shown them that in order to fix their problems, they must also come to Me, and they must let the other flowers come too.  They must stop trying to fix the problem by themselves.  They must come and let Me give them the good things they need."

The tiny violets thought they understood.  "King," they asked, "what should we do?"  The King smiled with much love in His eyes, and said, "Little ones, you may be the smallest and the most fragile of all the flowers, but you are the ones who trusted Me and came back to Me.  I want you to teach the others how to come to Me."  

The tiny violets trembled a little, but the King's smile was enough to set them whistling and hopping away back to the garden.  They called out in their squeaky little voices, "All you flowers!  You should not be afraid any more!  You can all come to the King and be made well and strong and beautiful.  We will show you how!"  The flowers swayed and shifted their branches and whispered among themselves.  The angry lilies and some of the poor, sick roses cried out in grouchy voices, "You silly, stupid violets!  We don't dare break our bargain with the foul creatures.  What if the King doesn't give us anything?  What if He tricks us, and we are left with nothing at all?  If we can no longer get water and sunshine from the foul creatures, we will all die.  We will not listen to you!" 

 Some of the older lilies murmured softly, and very slowly they approached the violets.  In their old, whispy voices they said, "We remember.  We remember how the King took care of us.  We were wrong to try and do His job, and we will go back to Him now.  Hopefully He will forgive us and teach us the things we have forgotten.  Even if He does not help us, it would be better to die with the memory of His goodness than to live one more day as slaves to these horrible creatures."  Many of the daffodils and sunflowers came forward in agreement, and a few of the poor, sick roses hobbled closer to the violets too.  The flowers who didn't come started screeching in anger, and they flung dirt and little stones at the flowers who had already turned to go and find the King.

He was not hard to find, for as soon as the violets and the other flowers turned around, they found that He was standing right behind them in the middle of the garden.  His face was very stern and solemn, and the flowers thought they had never seen Him look this way.  A loud flapping noise startled them from the other direction.  They turned again to see the big, ugly hawk land on the far edge of the garden next to the angry lilies and the other flowers (who were still screeching and throwing dirt and stones).  The King stretched out one arm toward the hawk and said, "Take what belongs to you."  The hawk didn't respond, but a thick cloud gathered and descended on the garden, and the flowers who had chosen the King could no longer see anything at all.  The screeching and flying dirt and stones was suddenly quiet.  Everything was quiet.

The cloud went away very slowly, and soon the flowers could see each other and the King's ankles as He stood with them.  Eventually they could see most of the garden, but they were surprised to find that it was a very different garden.  They began to murmur in surprise, and one of the sunflowers cried out, "Look at my petals!  Look at my petals!"  The other flowers looked, and saw that the sunflower was strong and tall, with lovely golden petals.  Then all of the flowers realized that they looked quite different.  The daffodils were sturdy and bright yellow, the old lilies were big and bright and colorful, and the roses were ruffly and pink and without a single dead branch.  The violets were the most changed, though.  Instead of the tiny, fragile blossoms that the other flowers remembered, they now saw enormous blooms with many layers and countless shades of purple and blue and scarlet, and lovely, elegant vines and deep green foliage.  The violets looked as surprised as everyone else!

It was then that the flowers realized that the big, ugly hawk had disappeared, and with him all of the angry, screeching flowers that had been afraid to go back to the King.  The flowers looked up at the King and saw that He was smiling very big.  He knelt among His precious flowers and said, "You are so beautiful.  You are so, so beautiful to Me."  Then they knew that it would always be this way.  The King would love them forever, and they would always be able to come to Him for good things.

He must be allowed the reward of His sufferings, which is our perseverance to choose Him again and again above all else, just as He chose us.  Even when we cannot understand Him, even when He seems a great distance away, we must cast everything else aside and love Him despite it all.  If we try to save ourselves, even in the smallest way, we will miss it and what we get out of it will be so, so much less.  Let Him have the reward of His sufferings.  Let Him have it all.  All the trust, all the choosing to believe that He is best.  For truly, our fruitfulness comes only from Him, and without Him we can accomplish nothing.  Let the sub-shepherds yield their rods and staffs to Him more and more, so that as one Body we may grow up into the fullness of Jesus Christ our Lord, bearing the fruit He has appointed from the beginning.  Amen.