I take some miniscule level of pride in my ability to maintain certain plant life. I would not dare consider myself a green thumb, but I can keep plants alive, mostly. However, the nemesis to my aspiring green thumb is the orchid. Orchids inspire me with their stunning flowers, yet I can't, for the life of me, keep one alive. It has become a new record setting challenge; how long will it last before it wilts and dies? My grandmother has a brilliant display of orchids in her kitchen; she’s had those brimming beauties for years, yet I’ve never managed to keep one alive for more than a month or two.
I’ve tried the infamous ice cube method. I’ve tried measuring out specific amounts of water for the week. I’ve tried toxically ignoring it so it craves my attention, which works for most of my plants. But no matter what I do, I kill the orchid.
I learned something about orchids. Orchids often die because they are especially susceptible to root rot. Root rot occurs when a plant has an overflow of water without any drainage. Without the ability to rid of the excess water, the water sits in the dirt and drowns the plant. This causes the roots to mold, rot and eventually the plant dies. I thought to myself and wondered how often mediocre plant people like myself have a dying plant and our first instinct is to give the plant more water. Then we act on this instinct, drown the plant, and it dies.
We often adopt the same instincts spiritually. When we’re struggling and wilting away we often think we need more water, more fulfillment, and more sustainability. What if our problem isn’t a lack of water? What if our problem is that we’ve been given water and instead don’t have a drainage system? If we are poured into but fail to pour out into others, we risk spiritual root rot.
When we have the living water that is Jesus in our lives and fail to share that with others, we suffocate and drown our souls. Like orchids, we must have an outlet to share the love of God or we will suffer the same fate as the overwatered orchid.
If you feel like you’re drowning and wilting away as you read these very words, do something good for somebody else. Give out what you have been given. Consider how minimized our world becomes when our own consumption of the living water, of Jesus, serves only ourselves. How much greater and stronger would we be if we had a drainage system to share the love and truth we know?
We get stuck in this challenge of sharing the gospel because we often believe that when we spread the good news it must be some extravagant, life-changing, coming-to-Jesus moment for the recipient. Those expectations aren’t only unrealistic, they’re detrimental. Not every moment is glorious, and that’s perfectly okay. Do something small today to share the love of Jesus. Pour out. It won’t look perfect, but we should all strive to make the orchid live a little longer each time.
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