Cultivated: Roots before Rushing

Kingdom growth isn’t rushed—it’s rooted. Let’s talk about what God is cultivating beneath the surface.

Founder's Circle 

Substack 

Instagram 

Website

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Welcome back to Women Under Construction. I'm your host, Katie Wood, Bible teacher, writer, podcaster, and honestly, the girl you'd want to grab a coffee with. If you're looking to build kingdom confidence and step fully into who God has called you to be, you're in the right place. So grab your Bible, get ready to mark up those margins, pull out your journal, pour a good cup of coffee, and let's get started. Friend, I'm really glad that you're here today. I will be honest, I have been sitting with something for a while now. And if I'm being fully transparent with you, it has really been shaping the way that I see my life with God in a really significant way. See, I keep coming back to this word cultivated. And maybe it's because I'm a visual person that I've started to use this idea of cultivated as a way to understand my spiritual life through the image of a garden. Not something wild or accidental, but something that's intentionally grown and built, something that's tended, that requires attention. And I think if I'm being really vulnerably honest with you, there are seasons where my garden feels really full, like there's things that are growing, there's life, there's fruit. And then there are other seasons, kind of like right now, where it feels like God is cutting things back. And it's uncomfortable, it's slow, and it's not always what I would choose. But here's what I'm learning: God, our great and merciful God that we serve, He's not in a hurry, but he is deeply committed to our formation. So today, that's what I want to talk about. I want to talk about what it actually looks like to be cultivated, not in a rushed or forced manufactured way, but in a way that is formed slowly, intentionally, and with the Lord. I think one of the biggest tensions we feel, and I'm gonna name it, is that we want transformation, but we want it quickly. We want these breakthrough moments, we want instant clarity, we want to feel like we're finally there. And if I'm being really, really transparent, I think that that tends to come from social media. At our fingertips, friend, we have ways for people to show us their highlight reels, the ways that they go through these breakthrough moments in, you know, a minute, two minutes, three minutes of clickable content. We see them do their daily rhythms in a way that feels like clarity to them, and then we adopt the same things. And I think when we go through life that way, we can do one of two things. We can fake it till we make it and realize we're not gonna make it, or B, we burn out. And we burn out not because what we're doing is inherently bad, but we burn out because what we're doing is not God ordained. See, when we look at scripture, we understand that this is not how our God works. He does not give us breakthrough moments, instant clarity, finally feeling like we've reached this pinnacle quickly. Look at how God has formed his people over time. He formed Israel over generations, he formed the disciples over years of walking through Jesus. And when we look at Paul, Paul went through seasons of obscurity and suffering. And I think the truth is that God is forming us in the exact same way. Not through one big emotional moment, but through a thousand small hidden ones. And I'm gonna name this tension. I think sometimes we mislabel our lives. We say things like, I feel stuck. It feels like nothing is happening, I just feel like I'm not growing anymore. And I want to push back gently, but firmly and say, What if the problem isn't that you're stuck, but it's that you're being cultivated? What if what God is doing is deep, unseen work beneath the surface and we just don't realize it? Because when we think of this idea of being cultivated, we think of a garden and we know that in a garden, the root system of plants and of herbs and of flowers and of trees, they grow in the dark. And I think just because we don't see the fruit yet, it doesn't mean that growth isn't happening. So if we're gonna talk about this idea of being formed and cultivated, I think we have a very clear starting point. And I want to walk you through it. You can't cultivate what you're unwilling to examine. Hear me out. Before you plant anything new, you have to understand what is already growing. And I think this is where most of us struggle because it requires honesty. And hear me out. I'm not talking about the polished, I'm doing fine version. I do that all of the time, ask my friends. But the real version. What is actually going on in your heart right now? What has been neglected? What is overrun? What has quietly taken root that you didn't intend to plant? See, I remember at our first house that my husband and I lived in. I had all of these ideas for the garden. I wanted bright, happy blooms, I wanted big, fluffy hydrangeas and roses that spilled abundantly over fences and ranunculuses that I could cut and put into arrangements. I wanted it just to feel like, even though we were in the city, because we lived in downtown Charlottesville, that there was this backyard oasis that felt like we were just cocooned in beauty. And see, I had all of these ideas, I had all of these Pinterest plans, and I had all of these flowers that I wanted to grow. So, like any type A, Eneogram one, I went out and I bought everything. I bought all the plants, I planted all of them, which was hard, and then waited. And that first year I realized that nothing really thrived. There were some things like my rununculuses that I was so excited to see grow and to be able to cut. They didn't even bloom. There were some things that died almost immediately. I had these beautiful um bushes that had lilac flowers that were sitting in part of the garden area. Turns out they were in complete sun and they couldn't handle that, died instantly. And there were other things, like the mint that my husband really wanted me to grow, that completely took over everything. And later in the season, when it was in the middle of winter and I was feeling discouraged, I realized that I had skipped a crucial part of the entire process. I didn't understand the condition of the soil. I didn't know what would actually grow there, and I didn't pay attention to the environment. See, if I had, I would have known that I would have needed compost and extra fertilizer. If I had, I would have realized that the sun came up and beat hard in a corner of the yard, and it would take really hearty, sun-loving plants to live and thrive there. And what I'm saying about this all is that I think we can do the same thing spiritually. We can try to plant discipline without addressing distraction. We can try to plant faith without confronting fear. And we try so hard to plant obedience without uprooting what's already in the way. But see, if we're doing this the right way, this is gonna start not with planting, but healthy growth will start with an honest assessment. Scripture says this to us: it says, search me, oh God, and know my heart. It says, test me and know my anxious thoughts. I think sometimes we read that in scripture and we think it's a surface-level prayer, but it's an invitation to let God walk through the garden of your soul and say, Katie, this needs attention. Hey, I'm gonna uproot this. This area right here has been neglected. And I know that that can feel really uncomfortable. But if we're honest, that's where real growth begins. Because once we know where we are, the next question becomes what are we actually aiming for? Here's the thing: we don't get to define what a healthy soul looks like. God has already done that. And even better, he hasn't left us guessing. When we look at Psalm 1, we see this picture of a life that is deeply rooted. There's a person who delights in God's word, who meditates on it day and night. And the result? They're like a tree planted by streams of water, steady, nourished, fruitful in season. They're not striving or frenetic, they're just rooted. And then we see Jesus, our Savior, build on that in John 15, where he says, Abide in me, remain in me, because apart from me, you can do nothing. And I think this is the part where we get it wrong. We try to produce fruit instead of staying connected. We try harder and push more rather than remaining. But fruit, I've learned, isn't something that you force, it's something that grows naturally from connection. And Paul, he echoes this in Colossians rooted and built up in him, established in the faith. Friends, this is slow work. This is roots that are growing deeper. It is a life that is built over time. Did you hear when I said over time? Not overnight, not instantly, but with intention. So when we put it all together with the state of our soul and understanding what a healthy soul looks like, we come to what I'm calling my definition of a cultivated soul. And my definition is one that is planted in God's word, connected to Christ, and steadily growing over time. Now, this next part is where it gets important because I think, and I have experienced in my own life, that sometimes when we talk about growth being God's work, we can swing too far the other way and become passive. So, what I mean by that is we can say that God is the one who makes growth happen. We see that in scripture. All of growth is something that God does. We just talked about how a healthy soul is one that is rooted in the word and connected to Jesus, allowing him to produce the fruit. But the act of cultivation is not passive, it's participatory. What do I mean by this? It means that I, Katie, cannot control the fruit that God is going to build in me. But I do prepare the soil for him. I do plant the seeds for him, and I tend what he has entrusted to me. And like a garden that doesn't happen randomly. See, there's this intention and rhythm and care about it. Instead of asking myself the question, how do I fix everything in my life? Can we just like take a minute, exhale that one out? Because that's a hard one. I think a better question is what is God inviting me to cultivate in this season? What needs to be uprooted? What needs to be planted? And what rhythms need to be established? Because a flourishing life with God, it's not accidental, it's cultivated on purpose, not perfectly, but intentionally. Let me walk this out with you. Right now, my life um is wild and I love it. And I am very aware that I am living in a season of answered prayers. Truly, in so many ways. Everywhere I look, I see that I am living in a season of answered prayers. I was sitting in one of our Easter services at church and worshiping and praising the Lord, and I had my arms up above my head, just exalting him. And y'all, I opened my eyes, and when I opened my eyes, the rows in front of me were filled with my people. We had friends, we had family, we had, you know, younger women who were there that we are mentoring and helping build up. We had family, extended families that were joining us. And I was moved to the point of tears because this is a season of prayers. This is the season of prayers that I have been asking and praying for, and the Lord has been so gracious and so kind and delivered me to, right? And that's the fruit. That's the hard work, the things that I have faithfully prayered and petitioned on behalf of to the Lord. Lord, give me a community of strong women. Give me a family, Lord. Remind me that I am yours. Surround me with people who remind me that I am yours, Lord. And if I'm being fully transparent, that's the high. But y'all, there are things that the Lord is uprooting out of my soul. Chunks that he is taking out and throwing to the side and saying, Well, it's time to fix this one. This area of your soul that's hardened, this area of your soul that is worshiping something that's not me, this area of your soul that feels barren, let's get it out of here. What does this look like for me? Because we're friends and I can be honest and bold and transparent with you. I have been walking through a really challenging season of life in my marriage. And for me, what it's looked like is a reorientation of what's important, a reorientation of my time, where I'm saying no to more so that I can say yes more in my marriage, so that I can be fully present, so that I can cultivate the soil of the relationship, of the shared garden that the Lord has given me with my husband and able and be able to produce fruit because right now it's looking a little rough, and that's in full honesty and transparency. I think that we as Christian women do ourselves a disservice when we say we're fine. The Lord is going to use the mountaintops and the valleys of our lives to help someone else, to draw someone else closer to the cross. So me sharing this is not because I want you to say, Oh, I feel bad for Katie. I'm sharing this because I think I do you a disservice if I act like my life is perfect. Because it's not. And if it was perfect, friend, there would be no need for Jesus. But because my life is so broken, is so barren, is so sin filled. The fact that I live in a broken world and I feel the effects of that broken world every day, that is why I need Jesus. And I'm doing a disservice by sitting here on the other end of this microphone. If I share only the mountaintop moments without any of the valleys, in this season, God is uprooting things. He is planting things. He's saying, Hey, I had you take a step back and say no to this so that I can plant this season. One of the favor my favorite things that he's planted in this season, my husband and I are doing a book club. It's so cheesy and so corny, and I love it so much. We are reading um Tim Keller's The Meaning of Marriage. We have another book or two picked after that to read as well. And we read this book, and then every week we try to sit down and go through what we've read and have an honest conversation. I love that seed that's been planted that we are cultivating. It's a rhythm that helps us stay connected that's more than just like, hey, what's going on at work? What are we doing with Alex? Um, what's on our calendar, what needs to be fixed around the house. It is this intentional rhythm that helps my husband and I to flourish in God's word and connected to the true vine in Jesus Christ. That was quite the tangent. I'm gonna stop because your girl, she felt really strong about that. Okay, where were we? So we're talking about building a flourishing life with God that isn't accidental, but that is cultivated with purpose, not perfectly, but intentionally. And if you missed it, that's what I'm doing. Okay, I am going to share with you my process for cultivating my soul in a quarterly format that I have created and gifted to you. So I have for about the last year, um, maybe more, have worked through this idea of a quarterly check-in. And my belief is that once a year is not enough, once a month is too much. So I started doing this quarterly check-in with my soul because I realized that I needed a guided rhythm to both assess, align, and intentionally grow in my spiritual life. Um, because here's the thing I was learning. I was learning that if I've ever tried to grow something, which I have, it's not by accident that things grow. It's taking intention and attention and a willingness to pause, assess, and adjust, right? That's what I got wrong that first year when I planted my garden. Your girl was a woman on a mission who did not pause long enough to assess and adjust what was working and what was not working. And I realized that that idea, that principle, it didn't just apply to the garden that I was building in my backyard. It also applied to my life, but my spiritual life too. See, I can sometimes set really big goals for myself. And I have found that I try to sometimes plant these seeds of discipline and faith and obedience without ever slowing down long enough to ask myself the question: what is actually growing in my soul right now? So I created this simple guided rhythm that helps me step back every few months and to tend my spiritual life with purpose. Through this process, I developed five different steps that I have found really helpful. The first is an honest assessment on the current state of my soul. The second is an anchor in what scripture is saying about spiritual growth. The third, I gently uproot what's crowding out my relationship with the Lord. And then I intentionally plant seeds that align with this season. And the final part puts it all into practice. I establish simple and sustainable rhythms that help me stay rooted in Christ on both a daily, a monthly, and a yearly idea. See, I think instead of drifting through the next season, Leading and living from a place of clarity makes all the difference. Not because I want to do it perfect or I want to just, you know, receive a gold star on it, but because I want to live through the next season with intention, with expectation, and with trust that the Lord who is doing a deep work in me is doing it beneath the surface. So you can download the Cultivated Soul, the quarterly soul check-in framework on my website or by the link in my show notes. And hey, while I'm at it, I want to take a minute. Y'all know I have historically not been a girls' girl. I have been incredibly graciously, kindly gifted by the Lord a group of women that are just everything to me. These are women that help to sustain me in hard seasons. They celebrate with me. Like these are my people. My son calls them aunties. And the thing that I've realized over the course of the last couple years developing this friend group is that community makes such a difference. We were not meant to build alone. And if you're listening to this episode and you're thinking, Katie, all of these things sound so great, but I don't want to do it alone. I want to let you know that's exactly why the founding circle exists. Because we know that formation was never meant to be isolated, but walked out in community. These are women who are pursuing the same depth as you, the same intentionality, and the same desire to grow, not just to consume. So if that's you, I'd love to invite you in. You can join the founding circle for 20% off by the link in the show notes. And hey, while you're at it, invite a friend. As we close, I want to leave you with this. Your soul is not behind. You are not late. You are not failing. You are being cultivated. And that means something deeper is happening, even if you can't see it. So don't rush the process. Don't force the gross. Stay rooted. Stay connected. Stay present to what God is doing right now. Because your life with Him, friend, it's not a project to complete, it's a garden to tend. And he is a really, really good gardener. If this episode encouraged you, challenged you, or gave language to something God has been doing in your own heart, would you take a second to support the Women Under Construction podcast? Make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you're listening so you don't miss the next episode. And if this podcast has been meaningful to you, I would love it if you would leave a review. Leaving a review is one of the simplest and most powerful ways you can help more women find this podcast. It truly makes a difference, and I would be so grateful. And if you know a friend who's in this season of rebuilding, pruning, or deeper spiritual growth, go ahead and share this episode with her too. Sometimes the right conversation at the right moment can be exactly what someone needs. I can't wait to see you back here next week.