I deadhead my garden almost every day. It keeps my flowers looking great by extending their time in bloom. If I neglect to cut off the spent blossoms, the plant may go dormant or set seed.

When I work in the garden, God often reveals truths to me. Last Saturday, as I deadheaded peonies, roses, and dame’s rocket, He answered a question that has bothered me for 20 years: “Why did You let this disease (Parkinson’s) happen to me?

He spoke to my heart. “I deadheaded your life because I want you to keep blooming. It’s not time for you to go to seed just yet.

Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.”

We have no say as to when we are born. Only God knows the number of days until our death. In between, He expects us to be fruitful and multiply. That may require pruning or deadheading.

It may be a person God deadheads out of your life. Or it may be any one of a hundred things He cuts off your life. He doesn’t do it to hurt you, but so you continue to bloom.