Many of you do not know me or know anything about my backyard, but my backyard, well you could get lost in the weeds and truly never be found. My backyard looks like a scene from a popular dinosaur movie. This past weekend I decided it was time that I tackled my backyard. Prior to my moving back home last summer, I spent a lot of time and money fixing my backyard. My house was going on the market and I wanted it to look nice and inviting. However, throughout my time away, no one was here to continue to maintain the yard, and when tenants did live in the house, they let the yard deteriorate. As I began to pull weeds Saturday, a thought hit me (like a 2x4)...is this not a representation of my life? Of our lives as believers? Do we not let the weeds of the world come in and choke us and entangle us and grow right over what looked to be a nice, lovely garden of faith?
As I said, a couple years ago I pulled the weeds out of my backyard for the upteenth hundred time. Since I had moved into the house, I had an issue with weeds. I would pull them up each spring and they would come back by the fall. But this time, I needed my yard to look nice because I was moving and was desiring to put my house on the market. So, I rolled out the "carpet" that was supposed to keep out the weeds, laid down the pine needles, put up a birdbath, planted some plants, and had what looked like a beautiful backyard. But the yard was not maintained, and as the year progressed weeds begun to sprout. When I arrived back home last summer, weeds had yet again started to take over my backyard, but because of various situations in my life, I neglected to pull them up. I continued to let them grow, let the roots sink deeper, and did not pay them much attention. My backyard soon became a jungle.
When I went out this weekend and begun working, I struggled. Some of the weeds were so deeply rooted, I could not pull them up and will need help; others came up rather quickly. But when I was done, I stepped back and what I saw was a mess. The foundational "carpet" was torn; there were holes all throughout it; weeds were strewn about the yard. What was under the "beautiful backyard" was a mess just waiting to be uncovered. I then realized what I had neglected to do when I was originally fixing my backyard was till the dirt, till up the roots and the weeds that I had continued for years to "pull up." Because I had not gotten to the heart of the issue, it was only a matter of time before the weeds reappeared and it was not until I completely cleaned my backyard of the surface weeds that I could see the true mess underneath.
And then without our realizing, we slowly fade and weeds start to sprout and slowly they come in and begin to choke the life out of our garden. We begin to experience a fading of our faith, a damping of our spirit, our laughter becomes silent. We feel a hopelessness in our heart; we are worried, anxious, fearful, bitter, angry, upset, discouraged.
There are so many different weeds that can take hold of a life from situations, to sins, to people. And in many weeds, there may be a little truth, a masked flower. We enjoy the person, we enjoy the company, we enjoy the places we are going, we see ministry, we see friendships. Or we know that moderation is truth, but we do not have self control. Or we have had a situation of hurt in our lives and we can not let go of the hurt, so we continue to bring up the situation in order to remind ourselves and others of it. But we do it because we "care." And if we see ourselves going back to the same situations, the wrong friendship, the same thoughts and feelings, we need to take heart and be careful, because one situation can set off the growth of multiple weeds. Bitterness can lead to anger, to depression, to a falling a part of a family or relationship. Unhealthy friendships and relationships can lead to paths that are traveled down that lead to things and places and words and deeds that would have never been a part of a life and can lead to a falling a part of family and true relationships, can lead to a sinking faith, discouragement. Sins in our lives can entangle us and keep us from growing and maturing.
But there is hope, once the farmer/gardner has pulled up the weeds and laid the mess out in front of Him, He comes along and tills. He tills the roots and the mess and what is left is clean barren land. After we tackle the heart of the issue, the Lord is ready to begin tilling. There lies a mess in front of us and He is comes along and desires to till and begin a new. Because what He desires next is to lay a new foundation,so a new garden, a new chapter, can be planted, watered, and harvested. If the steps are not done in the right order the garden will not grow. If there is not tilling, clean start, barren land, seed planted, watered, there will not be a bountiful harvest. Weeds will grow and the harvest will be choked and overcome. Before we can see the bountiful harvest the Lord has in store for our lives, we must let go of all the roots and weeds entangling our lives. We must evaluate where we are and where we desire to be. We must make changes and not be afraid of the consequences of those changes. We must not continue to dwell in the past but move forward to the future. We can pull up the weeds, we can see the mess underneath, and lay a foundation right on top of it, without tilling up the roots. And what will happen is the weeds will come back. But if we truly let go, let the Lord wipe the garden clean, we can start a new and what a harvest He can plant! Praise be to Him Who wipes away the mess we have made and plants a new garden in our lives!
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