Are gourds Christian?

I was outside looking at the gourds that are growing along the fence in the backyard and was initially frustrated with them. But then I realized that they had no other choice. Let me explain: the gourds are growing up the fence and using the fence as a guide post since gourds send out little feelers (click here to see a photo of a feeler) that they latch on to whatever they can get a hold of and continue to grow upwards. Well our gourds have grown to to top of the six foot gate and have not stopped. So every morning I go to the gourds and change their direction for being in the air with nothing to grab on to, to along the top of the gate to grow sideways or I turn the top part that is sticking up in the air (generally more than a foot) completely upside down to grow downwards and fill in the parts of the gate that are not covered by leaves. Well, no matter how many times I turn them sideways or upside down they always turn themselves back towards the sky and keep growing. I was ok with this since that is what they were created to do. Not only was I ok with it, but I was pleased and encouraged to see nature not following what people tell it to do, nut instead doing what it was created to do, no matter how much I attempt to discourage it. That was a lesson to me, one that forces that questions: What am I created to do? Have I been as persistent as the gourds? So that is not what frustrated me this morning. It was the gourds that had turned and grown at least a foot higher than the fence and then used their feelers to attach to each other and became very tangled together So I had to break the feelers in order to separate them and turn them back downwards.

Initially I thought: "Why would they go up and attach to each other when they had a perfectly good guide post leading them either sideways or downward?!! The blind leading the blind I tell you."

But then this afternoon when I was in the garden again I got another thought: They were in an unfamiliar space with no guide and no potential place to go since they could not FEEL anything. I can imagine if the gourds had feelings they would have been a bit scared out there in open space all alone, yet comforted knowing that if all else fails they would still go upwards, toward the Son. But then in the middle of the night they both stretching out their feelers, since it is what they were made to do, and felt each other. Each then grabbed a hold of the other as to never let the other go. And then I came and broke them apart. Sad, I know. This is so interesting that gourds were created needing guide post and when that runs out they grab on to each other.

What about Christians? We were created needing spiritual nourishment. I can only think of wilderness seasons or times when a Christian may be in a foreign or even familiar place yet be the only Christian. Or when a believer steps out into the deep only to find that no one else is there and that they are in a situation more difficult than anything that they had ever been in before. In all of these times and more we need each other. I see the gourds that were still on the fence as a faithless Christian, allowing themselves to be turned to the side or upside down at the whim of whomever so chooses. But the two that had grown so far above the gate and tangled themselves in each other were saying that they would have to be broken and possible killed before they were turned back. But I also see the persistence of the gourds that were still on the fence, they were not out in the air, but they were still turning themselves back towards the sky, towards the Son.

So to my readers: whether you are on the fence or out in the deep, you are most vulnerable when alone. Get with other believers, strong believers to help you to keep moving upwards when difficulties, temptations, or setbacks arise. And definitely remember that the Father will never leave you alone:

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

There are times when there are no other believers to hold on to. In those moments, grab on to the Father and don't let go.

John 14:16
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever--

John 14:26
But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.

I should really write something