Aphids in the garden

I have a small 10 x 20 foot garden in the back yard. It is enclosed with crossties and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching seeds sprout and plants begin to take on new life, seeking to bear fruit as best they can. As I stand on the crossties and bend over into my garden world, the Lord always has a new lesson for me. This time the garden world was being threatened by aphids. Tiny pinkish blue, sometimes green, bugs that would like to suck the life out of the plant----dotting along the stems and the back of the leaves. When I would see a leaf curling under, I could suspect that aphids were hiding underneath the leaf and the plant was stressed with the possibility of being overtaken. Just like I could tell about the tomato plants, God can tell with us, too, when we are threatened to be overtaken by sin. He knows and cares. Sometimes He does like I did to my plants. I stood there and plucked every single aphid off and squished them on my fingers--checking and turning over every leaf carefully and tenderly. We, His children, are cared for by His watchful, omnipresent eye. No "aphid" gets on us that He is not aware of----He has provided the strength for us to resist and overcome all obstacles. I marvel at the strength of these tomato plants day after day. The stalks are so wide and branches are so green and stout, bearing new foliage and yellow blooms which continue to be threatened by a pink dot here or there. In preparing the soil, I took longer than usual to insure that the roots could be deep and nourished----and that made all the difference in the strength of these plants to fight off the aphids effect on them. But when the aphids or stress does get too much for us to bear, the master gardener is right there, with tender hands--and maybe even bug spray--to help us, not only cope and survive, but to lift our heads to the skies in new hope and life.