A garden is made up of many intertwined relationships. There are connections and separate distinct parts comprising plants, soil, bugs and animals, and weather. When all is going well, the garden is a growing Eden-like paradise, all of the garden is happy and it is easy to be unaware of the individual needs of these distinct elements.
When a garden starts to fail, there is an awareness that you are not in charge. You planted the garden with visions of a flourish of colorful flowers, but insects and birds ate the blooms. Perhaps what you see as a failure is not what it seems. Those insects and birds took the nourishment that they needed from the garden.
Perhaps in life when we face frustration and failed plans, we are being steered in the right direction away from things that aren’t meant for us and towards things that are. This can be hard to see in the moment, but by embracing the idea that we may not understand the intertwined relationships in God’s plan we can start to find comfort and peace in disappointment.