Due to neglect and forgetfulness this Bonsai tree went from the above to this:

And it’s life was almost brought to an abrupt end!

1 Timothy 4:14 states Don’t neglect the gift that is in you and Matthew 22:37 says Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

It is up to us to develop and use the gifts that God has given us and to keep His commandments.  If we forget or neglect these gifts and commandments, we will wither away just as the Bonsai tree withered away, when it was forgotten about and not watered or put in sunlight.

When the Gardener of the Bonsai tree finally remembered to water the tree and place it in sunlight,  it started to grow again but in a totally different way.

She had this to say:

I like it better this way.  Gives me  a certain amount of hope…it seemed dead but I loved it and still watered it and now there is new life.  It is an example of when people give up on others because they don’t see any hope for them but then someone comes along and sees hope and potential and keeps loving them no matter what…

…and they grow anew…through all the bad, dead parts of their lives.  They push through and are more beautiful for it.

Because of the love and care of the Gardener, the Bonsai tree has decided not to be a Bonsai tree any longer and has grown big, green, luscious leaves!  The Gardener has also pruned the tree.  “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:2)

The photos of the ‘new’ tree made me think of the oft quoted verse in Jeremiah 29:11 and for the first time I finally understood what it meant!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all our Heart.  I will be found by you”, declares the Lord.

God knew us long before we were born.  He took infinite care in the making of us.  We were perfect in His eyes just like the little Bonsai tree was perfect.  Note that we were perfect in His eyes – even though some of us are not born perfect, physically or mentally.  Take the time to read Nick Vujicic’s story http://www.attitudeisaltitude.com/about-nick-his-story

We often find ourselves withered and dying as a result of our bad choices, addictions, wrong behavior and neglect of our physical and spiritual needs and feel that there is no hope for us any longer.  We have messed up totally and ahead lies only depression and misery.

If, at this time, we turn to God and commit our lives to Him, He is able to ‘care for us, water us and prune us’ and we are able to grow into something beautiful and we can then be used by  Him to be witnesses of His grace and love to those who are ‘withered and dying’.

We may have messed up the wonderful plans He had for our lives but if we entrust ourselves to Him, accept His forgiveness and believe these words:

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more (Isaiah 43:25) we will be able to ‘forget the former things; and not dwell on the past’ and believe God when He says “I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland”. (Isaiah 43:19)

We will be able to grow into beautiful trees with green and luscious leaves and the words of the Bonsai Gardener will apply to our lives:

It is an example of when people give up on others because they don’t see any hope for them but then someone comes along and sees hope and potential and keeps loving them no matter what…

…and they grow anew…through all the bad, dead parts of their lives.  They push through and are more beautiful for it.

God is that Someone and His love brings healing and beauty into our lives.

My previous post ‘It seemed dead but I loved it’ (https://noelene2014.com/2015/02/08/it-seemed-dead-but-i-loved-it/) refers.