In The Weeds
Each year in preparation for new mulch being laid, I love going out and working in the yard. It’s fulfilling to put your whole self into the hedging, removing weeds and just getting rid of the OLD and making way for the NEW.
Every spring I’m astounded at what has grown up amongst the plants, trees, and bushes in only one year’s time.
Year after year, I feel the Lord reminding me of the parallels I find between nature and our lives, just outside our home.
The trees seem so full, the leaves so bountiful and yet I feel the desire to prune.
Upon close examination I see that what looked like growth of the trees themselves is actually weeds. Weeds that are virtually undetectable if not examined with a very close eye.
These weeds even have beautiful leaves to camouflage the fact that they indeed suck the life out of the plants and trees we intentionally planted so many years ago.
They weave themselves around the trunk and the branches slowly attaching themselves in such a manner that they are not easily removed. In fact they look as if they have become ONE with these branches. It becomes nearly impossible to see where one begins, and the other ends.
The way they have positioned themselves around the branches looks eerily similar to that of a snake winding itself around a tree and that is how I view them, as snakes.
After embedding their twisting vines into once beautiful growth, the damage is done and they leave hidden dead branches in their wake.
Often these weeds can be dislodged from the base but other times the roots are too deep. Out of necessity I must cut off their life sucking tentacles only to return digging the root out with a shovel.
Do you see the parallel to our lives here? Something that seems harmless can slowly begin to take root in our lives. We may not even notice it developing. Little by little and day by day, the enemy can entangle our branches. The life-giving source we had flowing through our veins, begins to get snuffed out with little notice.
It’s HOW deception works. Slowly yet vigorously, careful to be undetected. Even beautiful in moments with little to no warning of danger.
However, the weeds need to be removed or they will do the same to your life. They will steal the very LIFE out of you.
The Lord placed on your life GIFTS and TALENTS He gave specifically to you. What we allow to take root though can and will create your future. What we feed, will flourish. We get to CHOOSE. Will we PARE, CULTIVATE and NURTURE or NEGLECT, WITHER and DECAY?
Does any of this resonate with you? Are you able to see the weeds clearly or must you examine more closely the thoughts, beliefs, and/or behaviors that are creating death in your life?
Perhaps you’re taking action in breaking the entanglement, but you need to go further with a shovel. What can look seemingly harmless and almost beautiful at times can ultimately keep you from living the life God called for you to live.
So what weeds are taking root in your own life? What is sucking the life right out of you even as you read these words? What has entangled itself around your thoughts and actions to the point of almost killing your spirit and soul and negatively impacting your overall wellness?
I invite you to get in and do the messy work. Asking God to give you eyes to see what is sucking the very life out of you and keeping you from the growth, beauty and life He intended.
I encourage you to find ONE WEED this week that you can begin to dig out at the roots. Is it difficult work initially? Yes, because it was quite easier to act as if it wasn’t there.
You should see the mess I create when I start vigorously pulling weeds out at the root and separating them from our beautiful trees. I’ve even snapped myself in the face a few times with limbs that wouldn’t break free so easily. It hurt. Dirt in my fingers and hair, clothes a soiled mess, even poison ivy at times but always worth it In the end.
I know that if I wouldn’t have dealt with THE WEEDS then and there, I could lose our beautiful plants and trees, ultimately creating more extensive work. The weeds and their devastation only accumulate.
After the hard work I REST knowing I’ll continue to see GROWTH, BEAUTY and LIFE where there would’ve been DEATH. I see the beautiful trees as they were meant to be and I stand astounded at the message they gifted me.
I promise you this, though the work is HARD, DIRTY, TEDIOUS and even PAINFUL at times, in the end you are met with the beautiful, bountiful gifts filled with the life giving oxygen your spirit, soul and body desperately need.
You don’t have to be alone while pulling out the weeds. He will be there with you and all you need to do is ask as you seek His face.
Sending you all so much LOVE and LIGHT this week.
