How Long is your Hose?

"To a gardener there is nothing more exasperating than a hose that just isn't long enough."(Cecil Roberts)


But what about a Christian or a writer? How long is your hose? Is it reaching those places off in the corner that need watering?


Early morning is my time to "go to the garden alone." It's quiet except when the birds come to sing me a song. As Dorothy Frances Gurney once said: "You're closer to God's heart in a garden than any place else on earth." And this is so true for me. 


In summer, when the days are longer and the Texas heat is beating down on my tender plants, I'm up at 6 AM to water them. They are my children, my charges, my lives that need to be cared for. I have a hose that reaches to all but a couple spots in the back yard. To reach those difficult places, I have to carry a watering to them, or just let them die. I can't depend on rain to nourish them because I live in a dry summer climate.


God has placed us in a larger garden, his world, planted with his people. What about the ones in those difficult places who need his living water to give them strength?  What about those carrying heavy burdens and need to know there is a savior who carries our burdens? What about the sick or injured who need a prayer partner? What about those souls who need to know about the gospel? Is my hose reaching those folks who are being beaten down by satan's heat. Is it long enough to reach out to them all? Is it sending out the living water that only Jesus can bring into the heart? 


"Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (JN 7:38"


Gracious Lord fill my heart daily with your precious living water so that it will flow from me to others who need your living water. Give me a long enough hose to reach to farthest places as well as those who are nearer to me. When I'm in your garden, I want to be among your "master gardeners."