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A Purposd Original

The Garden

You thought you were buried. God knew you were planted.

By Chestney Hibbler · 10-minute read · Published August 2026

A Purposd Original

“Some seasons feel like punishment. They’re actually preparation.”

“This reflection is for the one exhausted by waiting — and about to discover why the timing was never wrong.”

I hated the mud. Everyone called it a season. I called it survival.

Because seasons sound beautiful. And this… wasn’t beautiful.

This was waking up tired after sleeping all night. Smiling through days while crying through nights.

This was anxiety wrapped tight around my chest. A mind that wouldn’t settle. A heart that couldn’t rest.

This was trauma showing up unannounced. Every quiet moment became another battleground.

This was remembering things I wanted to release. And forgetting parts of myself I was desperate to keep.

Meanwhile everyone else seemed to bloom with ease. Their gardens full of flowers. Their branches full of leaves.

New homes. New dreams. New beginnings to pursue. And there I was trying to survive what nobody else knew.

Still healing old wounds. Still fighting old fears. Still carrying battles that had followed me for years.

And I remember thinking, “God… why does everyone else look planted in a garden while I feel buried in the dirt?”

All I got was silence.

Then one day, in the middle of another spiral, another sleepless night, another hidden battle— God whispered:

“Who told you being buried and being planted were the same thing?”

I sat there confused. Because honestly, they looked alike.

Both are hidden from the world. Both spend seasons out of sight. Both are covered. Both are pressed. Both know darkness. Both know depth.

But one is dying. And one is being prepared for everything that’s next.

“Who told you being buried and being planted
were the same thing?”

Suddenly the mud looked different. The waiting felt different too. Because maybe the dirt wasn’t me being forgotten. Maybe it was proof that God knew exactly what to do.

The pressure. The stretching. The loneliness. The pain. The prayers I kept praying again and again.

The tears nobody witnessed. The nights nobody knew. The healing. The boundaries. The rebuilding breaking through.

Roots. God was growing roots.

Because flowers without roots can’t weather wind and rain. And blooms without foundation never remain.

I wanted blossoms. God was building strength. I wanted beauty. God was building depth. I wanted relief. God was building trust. I wanted answers. God was teaching me not to rush.

Then one morning something shifted. But not all at once. Not dramatically. Just enough.

A little more peace. A little less fear. A little more faith. A little less despair. A little more freedom. A little less shame.

Tiny green shoots breaking through the pain.

And suddenly I realized— I wasn’t stuck. I was growing. Becoming what I prayed for, not by luck.

Beneath the surface. Beyond what eyes could see. The Gardener was doing a deeper work in me.

So if you’re exhausted. Anxious. But healing. Or just waiting for the day your life finally starts making sense—

Let me just say:

The tree isn’t forgotten. The flower isn’t late. The seed isn’t stuck. The Gardener knows no delay.

Because sometimes the greatest miracle isn’t the bloom or the shine. It’s discovering that God had a greater plan the whole time.

🌸☀️

Heal. Grow. Become.

— Purposd

“The seed isn’t stuck. The Gardener knows no delay.”

The Truth Beneath the Reflection

“Comparison is most dangerous when it’s between your hidden season and someone else’s visible bloom. You are not seeing the full picture. You never are.”

“Roots are formed in the dark — under pressure, out of sight, before anything is visible. The depth you’re building right now is what will hold you when the storm comes.”

“God does not forget the one in the dirt. He tends to what He plants. And He planted you on purpose, in this season, for something that requires this exact depth.”

Biblical Truth

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

— Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Sit With This

1. What has your “mud season” looked like — what has it cost you that nobody else could see?
2. When you compare your hidden season to someone else’s visible bloom, what do you tell yourself?
3. What might God be growing in you right now that can only be built underground?

This space is for your private reflection. Your response will not be submitted or saved.

A Prayer for the Journey

God,

I’ve been in the dirt for what feels like too long.

Watching everyone else bloom while I’m still beneath the surface.

Remind me that hidden doesn’t mean forgotten.

That pressure doesn’t mean punishment.

That the work You’re doing underground is the work that will hold me when the wind comes.

I trust Your timing even when I don’t understand it.

Let me grow at Your pace — not mine.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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