Death of a Rosebush

It used to be such a lovely thing, but now it's dead. I've no idea why it happened - I prayed about it so earnestly. 'Lord, you are sovereign; you can make it grow. Is anything too hard for the Lord?' It developed greenfly and blackfly, but I knew it wasn't fatal. 'Lord, all these things are in your hands. You say to the greenfly 'go' and it goes; to the blackfly 'die' and it dies. Command this, O Lord, let all the garden know that there is a God in heaven.'

What makes it worse is that our neighbours have a beautiful rosebush still. But they used worldly methods. I saw them buy books on rose-growing, and saw them spray the rose leaves and fertilise the soil. Rose growth techniques! I told them. 'None of that for me,' I said. 'Their very existence is a denial of God's sovereignty!'

Very soon now the Gardener will be coming - and he'll tell them too! 'Better to let my rosebushes die,' he'll say, 'than turn to rose-growth techniques.' Mind you, it's a bit odd - because he once wrote a book himself on roses, and it says a fair bit about healthy growth.

Still, it's dead now. God is Sovereign still.