My friend Becky says to me, “He’s good, but He’s slow.”
I know God isn’t “slow” in His economy, but to our perception of His work in our lives, things appear slow, mysterious, and often strange.
I think about this as I inspect my plumcot tree this morning. Six springs ago, I grew a little plumcot tree from a grocery store plum I enjoyed. After several years, I enjoyed just one plum before my arborist advised I cut it down due to the dreaded black knot disease. He said not to worry when we chopped the tree down; these things regenerate. He called it “forced regeneration” where you essentially destroy something to see it grow back better and stronger.
I added the lesson to my understanding of God as a Master Gardener. (I think about dreams that seem to die, only to come back in another form.)
Well, a few days ago, my husband directed my eyes to the backyard. We remarked how, not only did the tree grow back, it produced an entire grove of plum trees from the single stump. One tree now became six trees. It’s odd and strange enough for the arborist to wonder about, too. “Huh,” he said, with his hands on his hips, and face scrunched up. “That’s cool.” We had called him for advice. He actually had to thin out the trees! We had too many! Nobody, not even he, could have predicted this marvel.
Technically, I now am growing a “copse” of trees. A copse refers to a small group of trees, so now you know.
And even better, the trees are blossoming! I’m not sure if I’ll have fruit this season (since it needs to cross-pollinate), but perhaps the bees will accomplish miracles in my garden. Maybe with the six trees, they will pollinate one another. I don’t know how this works, really.
It might not be this year—or even next year. But I must report: God already has done “immeasurably more” in six years. He’s good. But He is slow. Even with the dreaded black knot killing the first tree, God was working His goodness.
And this is just as it should be. He’s making us exceedingly fruitful!
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