The Potting Shed by Ruth Johnson





 

Eph.3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love... 19: to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.



Recently I awoke in the early hours of the morning.  Stumbling across the room to the toilet I clearly heard the Lord say, “It is time for the shed.”  
Puzzled, and half asleep I asked, “What shed?”  His answer was equally clear, “The Potting Shed.”


My mind immediately went to Adrian, our lodger, who is now involved in a start-up project for addicts.  If God is providing a potting shed, I felt He was saying that He wants to take their roots in addiction and repot them in the soil of salvation.  With that I returned to bed and immediately fell asleep.  


My first thought when I awoke was ‘the shed’ followed by the verse in Mark 11:23 which says, “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.”   Now the message of the night seemed more personal.  For several days I’d been praying about the ‘religious’ mountain where faith has been locked up in doctrine instead of a fulfilling relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So significant did I feel that brief conversation with the Lord I have shared it with my church intercessors' group, and other groups I pray with.  It’s been fascinating the different perspectives God has brought to that, which as it unfolded, I have blogged 5,000 words!  

But I share here encouragement to my fellow Christian writers’.  I’ve felt pot bound for years, and have come to see this as a secure place, as my little plant is healthy.  There have been times when I have pushed my roots out of the bottom of the pot, but success has been limited. Yet I believe God’s hand is in my writing.  You may feel the same.  As this has unfolded, I felt He carefully tipped me up, shook off the remaining soil, teased out those tight roots and I await Him to replant me where I can grow to my full potential and be fruitful. 

My recent visit revealed the potting shed looked as above picture. Full of  tools and stacks of new pots far more than I could use.  I sensed the shed was my heart, I in Him, and He in me.  You are welcome to visit my shed, use the tools, replant your pots and bring fresh insight into this.  My personal blog details are in the tags below.



Comments

  1. This is so encouraging and so right for me at the moment, Ruth. Due to a difficult, almost impossible time with a publisher and the inability to place most of my articles at the moment I have felt like maybe I should give up on my writing i.e. that season of my life has ended. However, your word and one given at church seem to tell a different story. Thanks for the share.

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  2. Thank you Ruth. What an encouraging post.

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  3. This is really thought provoking - there is something in this teasing at the edges of my conciousness which I need to explore.

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