Mandrakes

 

“I know that it’s just God testing us,” she said.

“Maybe,” I said. “Maybe not.”

Then she went on to share the things going on in her life

And reiterated the belief that the tough parts were God testing her faith.

 

“Are you a fan of Harry Potter?” I asked.

“We haven’t watched the movies yet, but we want to,” she responded.

“Well,” I said, “there’s a plant in the stories called the mandrake.

When the mandrake grows, it must be removed from its pot and placed into a bigger pot.

During the process, the mandrake screams terrible screams

Because he/she doesn’t like the process of being pulled from comfort

And placed into the unknown.

I like to liken our lives to the mandrakes.

When we outgrow our circumstances,

Oftentimes after periods of rapid growth that come from difficult experiences,

We need a new place to be.

Yet we kick and scream and throw a fit in the process of being transported

Because it is unfamiliar, new and raw and uncomfortable.

But then, when we finally make it,

We have a new pot in which to continue growing.

I don’t know that God sits in heaven with a clip board and zaps down when it is time for us to grow and change through periods of hardship,

Or if life just happens and God then works with us to create something good from the mess.

I just know that God is a good God, a God of creation,

And that we are sometimes mandrakes screaming against what is best for us in the process.”

 

“Wow,” she said, “I have goose bumps. Thank you.”

And then the car rider line moved forward and I kept calling names.

  

God: Help us to see more than the image of You with a clipboard and staff, zapping those who have done wrong, bringing intentional tests and hardships to some, while blessing beyond measure others. There is so much mystery in You. There is so much we don’t know—so many contradictions of your character in scripture—so many views of you in this world. But, God, you are good, you are Love, and you are Creator God, and you gently handle us when you’re repotting us from one place to another. Thank you for designing us to grow. Thank you for giving us the space to change. Thank you for being patient with us in the screaming, and for not just dropping us and making us find our way on our own. Again, God, you are good, you are Love, and you are Creator God. And for that, amongst so many other things, we say thanks. Amen.