Your Dirt, Part Of Your Destiny

Don't overlook the dirt in your life, its part of your destiny.

Dirt is often a concept we recoil from. I think how many times as a child, I used to run from the mud and got upset when I found myself covered in it. It has never been something to embrace.

We are never taught to appreciate the dirt and our place in it. That age old oneness that many people experienced with the earth, stretching right back to ancient times. People did not fear getting their hands dirty, it was part of the pitter patter flow of their lives. There was an appreciation for what the earth offered, nourishment for their bodies and minds.

A connection born out of cultivation, tending to the ground. There is something so intimate and spiritual to it. Raking the soil, removing the stones and debris, its releasing and renewing simultaneously. Resurrecting the ruin and rubble that lies beneath and breathing fresh air, absorbing it into the deep. The earth stores our tears, but equally gives new life, a rebirth beyond our wildest fears.

Photo by Kathya Meza on Unsplash

I love how many metaphors and symbols revolving around dirt occur in the Bible, from gardening, the parable of the sower, to the potter’s hands. It’s notable how the perspective on the concept of dirt is focused around renewal, healing, continuity and abundance. I have included some of my favourite passages below:

‘The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.’- Isaiah 58:11

God is a tender father that farms the fields of your heart, who will give you supernatural strength in every season, no matter how much you feel ‘scorched’ by life. You will be overflowing like a well, lacking for nothing.

‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.’- Matthew 13:31

All it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed, tiny, barely visible to the naked eye and God will with His favour, give you all you need to flourish. From the roots you will rise with reverence, to the tallest towering redwood.

Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

There is no denying that some of the dirt we carry, the soiled parts of our souls, depression, abandonment, loneliness, bitterness and a host of other deep rooted feelings; cannot just be carved up carelessly.

From my own battles with depression, I know that it’s not a simple case of churning up the earth where our fragile, brittle roots reside. Pouring toxic positivity and mantras like artificial chemicals contaminating the ground.

There is a communion with ourselves to be had, one that cannot be condensed or rushed. Careful and contemplative, a gentle unearthing that brings clarity to the carnage. Lengthening our perspective on life, from the point of sowing through to the harvest.

Anti-depressants had me sinking in the soil. Strangled by weeds, suffocating that inner sapling that was struggling to survive, under the weight of rocks and other debris in the dirt. If you have ever suffered with depression, you will know how you can feel numb and heavy all at once.

It wasn’t until I spoke to that vulnerable part of myself softly and with the help of the Father’s hands, caressed it with care. I was able to gradually release all that was weighing me down.

Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

Like a potter with the clay, He meticulously moulds us. The rough dirt or clay is not our destination, but rather forms part of the refining process, as we lean into the concept of God’s providence.

Providence meaning that He is in the mud with us, involved in every aspect, our sustainer, shepherding and shaping us into the greatest garden. As Faith Chang writes in her book ‘Peace over Perfection.’

Like a farmer who wakes, then sows, and then goes to bed, we will rise in the morning to find that seeds have sprouted-though we know not how. This is the mathematics of God’s gracious providence- that in the final count, one seed somehow yields thirty-sixty or a hundred-fold.’

We can never fully appreciate the magnitude of what God is capable of doing in our lives, because a lot of it occurs behind the scenes.

In the muddied waters, the dark corridors, the perpetual brain fog floating in and around us everyday. He’s in the forgotten, unfinished fissures that flake and split, revealing what we are keen to repress. He is there in the membrane of our memories, ingrained in the carpet of all creation. He admires our dirt in the same way we admire a diamond.

In this world where many are searching to feel desirable, radiant and beautiful like a diamond. let this be a gentle invitation to appreciate the devotional spirit in the dirt. The dedication and determination to reach our divine destiny. It’s not pretty, but it’s real.

It is in the dirt where God takes our perceived filth and grime, planting seeds that will grow in time. Flowering into a garden that continues to multiply.

I hope you know that a garden lies inside of you. The dirt is the not the end but the beginning. You are desirable and deserving of your dreams.

With Love

Georgie