I was cleaning up my flower garden, getting ready for
spring. What a wonderful time of year; clearing out the old dead stuff,
preparing the soil and making way for the new spring growth. It’s a lot of work
but the results are satisfying and uplifting. My garden is all clean and
orderly. All the pesky weeds are gone, the soil is ready and waiting to nourish
the mature plants and bring fourth new life as well, helping them each to achieve
their potential.
Wow! Don’t you wish life could be like that: all orderly and
clean, free of the pesky weeds of discouragement, regret, and doubt? Don’t you
wish you could spend one afternoon cleaning it up and voila! The soil would be ripe
with nutrients ready to nourish our current talents and ideas and ready to grow
new ones too.
But alas, my flower garden is much easier to clean up then
the garden of my soul.
The weeds of discouragement, doubt and regret have much
deeper roots than the ones in my yard, probably because they’ve been allowed to
flourish for years instead of a few months.
And my soil is too dry, it’s been
neglected for far too long, when I’ve been too busy to take time with the Lord
and soak in those all too important nutrients that only He can provide, or I
have been unwilling to do the work to remove those weeds.
I wonder why it is that we let our lives get so out of control? Is it because no one can see our soul? Because it’s not on display for all to see? We can keep it hidden, like a dirty closet, put off the cleaning.
Oh sure, we clean out some of the weeds occasionally when they really affect our life, and God brings them to our attention. But do we actively take stock and seek to keep it orderly and clean? When was the last time we evaluated our priorities? Decided where each “plant” in our life should be placed? When was the last time we thought about clearing out some of the business to make room for new growth?
The weeds of discouragement, doubt and regret have much
deeper roots than the ones in my yard, probably because they’ve been allowed to
flourish for years instead of a few months. 
And my soil is too dry, it’s been
neglected for far too long, when I’ve been too busy to take time with the Lord
and soak in those all too important nutrients that only He can provide, or I
have been unwilling to do the work to remove those weeds. I wonder why it is that we let our lives get so out of control? Is it because no one can see our soul? Because it’s not on display for all to see? We can keep it hidden, like a dirty closet, put off the cleaning.
Oh sure, we clean out some of the weeds occasionally when they really affect our life, and God brings them to our attention. But do we actively take stock and seek to keep it orderly and clean? When was the last time we evaluated our priorities? Decided where each “plant” in our life should be placed? When was the last time we thought about clearing out some of the business to make room for new growth?
It can be an overwhelming
task, but like any other task we just need to break it down into smaller
chunks. Just take a small section at a time, organize and clear out some weeds.
Remembering not to break them off, but to dig them up by the roots and get rid of them. Letting the Lord help us heal the resentment, bitterness and fear and make way for new growth and beautiful flowers!
Only then can we have the beautiful life that we desire.
Remembering not to break them off, but to dig them up by the roots and get rid of them. Letting the Lord help us heal the resentment, bitterness and fear and make way for new growth and beautiful flowers!
Only then can we have the beautiful life that we desire.
What does your garden look like?
Like this?
Or like this?
What weeds do you need to pull up?
Like this?
Or like this?
The reality is probably somewhere in-between.
Together, with the Lord’s help and a little effort, we can
all improve the condition of our garden.
What weeds do you need to pull up?
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