In Northern Ireland there sits a cylindrical building on the side of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. It’s known as Mussenden Temple and once was the library of a great lord. With windows all around it, inside there are magnificent views of the sea from almost every angle. And when we decided to explore the North on our second trip to Ireland, Tony and I put it on our “must-see” list. Only, when we went to visit, it wasn’t the Temple that stuck out to us.
That morning, it was the usual damp, foggy weather we’d grown accustomed to in our time in Ireland. As we left our B&B, we put the address in our GPS, and within twenty minutes, it told us, “You have arrived.” But there was no sign for Mussenden Temple. In fact, the ocean wasn’t even in sight.
We had no idea where we were.
The GPS had lead us to a garden with a sign that read “The Bishop’s Gate.” When we went inside we found a very friendly park ranger wearing a bright red jacket. And though everything we were seeing told us otherwise, he told us we were in the right place.
The ranger explained, we were in the Lord Bishop’s garden, but if we just took the path straight head and to the left, it would lead us to the ocean and Mussenden Temple. We paid him our entrance fee, strapped our camera bags on a little tighter, and then began to head towards the path. But before we got very far, he called after us,
“Be sure to stop here when you come back, the garden is a beautiful place to see.”
“Ok,” Tony and I replied with a smile. Though I wasn’t very interested in seeing the garden. We hiked up the trail, then through a big grassy field before coming to the cliff that overlooked the ocean. Up a little ways to the left was the Temple. We spent over an hour there, taking photos and walking around inside the circular building.
Until finally we were ready to head back to our car.
As there was only one way in and out of the park, the path lead us right back into the center of the garden. There we were greeted by the very charismatic park ranger once again. He asked us how we liked the Temple, and we said very much. Only that is not where our conversation ended.
A butterfly flew by us, and he told us it’s species. Then he went on to point out roses and California poppies—giving us a full tour of the garden. As he did, he talked about how he would walk through the garden on his lunch break every day. That when things were quiet at the gate, he’d sneak tools out of the shed to tend to different plants.
This park ranger loved the garden. As he talked about each plant and flower bed, admiration filled his face. Until, he came to a leafy green plant, and said,
“Oh but this, this has got to go.”
To me it seemed like a “filler” plant. To him, who knew much better, it meant death. He started pointing out all the places it was growing in the garden—in this flower bed, and that flower bed. He explained the plant had an intricate root system and it was spreading, choking out the California poppies, rose bushes and more. He reached down as we stood over one bed of flowers, grabbed a handful of green, and ripped it out. But only the stems came up.
“It’s so rooted in the ground you can’t pull it out by hand. The whole bed is going to have to be dug out. Everything needs to be ripped up, including the dirt. Hopefully, we can save the flowers, but you just don’t know…”
At that moment, a couple walked in wanting to buy tickets. The ranger made his polite good-byes, and invited us to stay as long as we liked. And for the rest of the day, the image of those beautiful flower beds being ripped up, stayed with me.
For the rest of the day, the image of those beautiful flower beds being ripped up, stayed with me.
All of us have times in our lives where we can’t understand why it feels like our worlds are being torn apart. Collectively, we’ve felt that way this year. But as I thought and prayed about what that park ranger said, I realized that sometimes the unhealthy coping mechanisms, faulty beliefs, and bad relationships we allow in our lives, do more damage than we realize. And that when we find ourselves in bad or hard situations, God is often inviting us to allow him to do some digging and ripping up for us.
God wants to free us from the things in our heart and lives that are killing us slowly.
Though often our hardships can make us wonder how God can be good, we need to understand—He isn’t the weeds wreaking havoc in our lives. He is the good gardener. He is the park ranger, taking his lunch break and every quiet moment to care for us. We just need to let Him in.
God isn’t the weeds wreaking havoc in our lives. He is the good gardener.
This brief encounter with the park ranger gave me a new understanding of God. God looks at you and me the way this ranger looked at the garden. And His love for us is so strong, He doesn’t want to allow anything to grow in our lives, that will eventually bring us death. In this season in your life,
What is being ripped up?
Is it possible that with the death of things you love, God is also trying to remove something that is causing your harm?
Could this upheaval eventually bring you more life?
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