God almost always speaks to me when I am working on pulling weeds in my yard.
We live in Florida where the sun shines the majority of the year. With all that warmth comes weeds. They grow just about anywhere they can. It seems like a never-ending task and I’m constantly pulling weeds in the yard and my garden. Every time I turn around another weed is popping up in the sand! The sand – how can a weed grow in the sand?
We have been redoing our back yard this past year to create an amazing oasis. Last year at this time I dreaded looking outside to our sandy pits of a junkyard. It felt like failure, the loss of yard because of the hot summers and no in-ground sprinklers was a constant reminder that we had not been successful at keeping our yard looking nice, so much so that a place where we had made memories, held parties and enjoyed life together was a place we dreaded to even look anymore.
Now we have a beautiful pool, a huge gazebo/deck, rock work, plants and when you walk outside you are surrounded by this great oasis BUT on the outer skirts is still the unfinished yard and flower beds that still reveal what was and what still needs to be done. This is the place where the weeds constantly take over and require constant care. God has been using this to speak to me about my own life.
I have been on a weight loss journey for the last year and the outside of my body is ever changing and is looking different each week. I look at myself in the mirror and see a new me, a new freedom of life that is on the horizon. However, I can see the inside parts of my heart that have yet to be overhauled and finished in the process.
Losing weight is only one part of that journey for me, dealing with the heart issues that got me there in the first place is a whole other part. This brings me back to my weeds…….and a couple of thoughts that God is speaking to me.
When weeds first start growing, they start little and seem insignificant but if I leave them unattended to keep growing – I can come out in a few days and they have grown massive, they spread like wildfire and even start to choke out the grass that is growing there.
Sometimes in our lives, we see some little weeds, it may look like resentment, disappointment, frustrations, anger or a grudge and if we don’t deal with them and uproot them they can spread and start to take over our heart. Soon we have a heart full of weeds we don’t even recognize.
I realize how many weeds I left growing in my heart until I almost didn’t recognize them for what they were. They almost looked like part of the garden, hidden amongst the flowers. They were slowly choking out the things that brought life, joy, and peace – that only God can give.
Be quick to let things go and forgive, yes I know this is easier said than done but with the power and help of Holy Spirit we can uproot the weeds one by one.
His desire is for us to allow our heart to flourish as a healthy well-groomed garden where life is constantly evolving without being choked out by the weeds. After you’ve pulled the weeds, you should take time to tend your heart and sow the seed of His Word into it. Let Him and His word make you new. Don’t neglect ‘you’ for too long or the weeds will grow out of control and that is not God’s best for your heart. He is the most gentle Father and longs to watch you blossom.
We have to spend time with Him and allow Him to reveal areas that need cleaning up. It is so well said in James 1:21 in the Message Bible “In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.” Don’t miss out on a beautiful encounter with Him!
SCRIPTURES TO STUDY
- Ezekiel 36:26
- Proverbs 4:23
- Matthew 12:35
- James 1:21
- Isaiah 58:11
