Growing Things & Growing Faith: What Gardening is Teaching Me About My Walk With God

On Wednesday evening, I got to learn a new seed starting technique at church during our Wednesday night class, Grounded, Grow and Gather. So first — shoutout to my Crossroads family! 🎉

There is something so special about learning and growing together in community. ♥️🌱

But today, something has stayed with me.

I’ve been reflecting on how deeply gardening mirrors our spiritual journey.

Learning How to Grow:

When you first start gardening, everything feels new.

You’re learning how to support a living thing.

How to water it.

How to feed it.

How to position it for light.

How to help it produce — whether that’s food, herbs, or simply beauty.

And in those early stages? There are mistakes.

There are setbacks.

There is trial and error.

You overwater.

You underwater.

You plant too early.

You plant too late.

But if you stay with it — if you remain attentive — something begins to shift.

You start learning what that plant needs in different seasons.

You learn when to prune and when to leave it alone.

You begin to recognize subtle changes in growth and health.

The more time you spend with it, the deeper your knowledge becomes.

And with knowledge comes confidence.

Isn’t that so similar to our walk with God?

Psalm 1:3 says:

“They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers.”

Notice it says in season.

Growth has timing. Fruit has timing. And roots matter.

The Danger of Neglect… and the Beauty of Design:

Here’s something gardening teaches quickly:

If you stop paying attention, some crops will fail almost immediately. They were never designed to grow untended in our specific climate.

They need consistent care.

But other plants?

They thrive. They take off. They flourish — sometimes even without you.

Why?

Because they were designed and acclimated for this environment.

Spiritually, this speaks volumes.

Some relationships require daily tending — intentional effort, humility, communication. When neglected, they wither.

Other relationships flourish when we stop trying to control them.

Sometimes it’s not about forcing growth.

It’s about recognizing what was truly meant to be planted in your soil.

When Relationships Have Seasons:

In gardening, not everything is perennial. Some crops are meant for a short, beautiful season.

You enjoy them.

You harvest what they produced.

And then their season ends.

The same can be true in relationships.

Sometimes we see that as failure. But maybe it isn’t.

Maybe it was simply seasonal.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us:

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”

Not every planting is meant to last forever. But every season still has purpose.

Stop Forcing the Outcome.

How often do we try to force what we believe God’s answer should be?

We pray — but with a script already written.

We surrender — but with conditions attached.

Yet when we step back…

When we release control…

When we allow God to grow something in us instead of demanding a specific result…

That’s when flourishing begins.

John 15:5 says:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Fruit is the natural result of connection — not force. When we remain, when we stay rooted, growth happens.

The Power of Propagation

One of my favorite parts of gardening is propagation.

When a plant is thriving, you can take a healthy cutting — a piece of that growth — and place it somewhere new. Over time, it grows roots of its own.

It multiplies.

It spreads.

It creates life again.

And that’s what healthy faith does.

When our relationship with God is rooted and flourishing, pieces of that peace, that wisdom, that steadiness begin to take root in others.

We don’t force it.

We don’t manufacture it.

We simply share from what is already thriving.

Galatians 6:9 encourages us:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Gardening teaches endurance.

Faith requires it.

Final Reflection:

Growth requires attention.

Flourishing requires surrender.

And not everything is meant for every season.

But when you stay rooted in the right soil — when you allow the Master Gardener to shape your growth — your life will produce more than you could have designed on your own.

And that, to me, is faith.