Weeding the garden ...

I do not have a green thumb. As much as I love flowers and plants, they just don’t seem to like me ... at least for any length of time. To be honest, I think they fear me ... or maybe it’s that they SHOULD fear me, I’m not real sure??!? This evening I took some time to work in my gardens and was just AMAZED at how everything struggles to survive in the summer heat, EXCEPT THOSE STINKIN WEEDS!! As I walked around the house to assess exactly how much roundup this job was going to require, I couldn’t help but wonder ‘who waters the weeds?!?’ Throughout the summer, I was watering my flowers EVERY NIGHT and still many didn’t make it through ... why is it that weeds seem to thrive without a lick of attention or care?

A couple of years ago, I actually received a little ‘Cliff Claven’ insight into that question ... turns out, weeds are ‘indigenous’ to the Earth’s soil. When something is indigenous, it means it occurs naturally, without struggle or strife ... they’ve been a part of the earth so long that they need nothing provided to them to survive ... they actually only show up where they KNOW they will survive. They thrive because they are suited to their surroundings ... very much ‘of this world’, if you will. It’s a really fascinating concept and the spiritual parallels could create an endless discussion.

In contrast, most flowers, plants and trees ARE NOT indigenous to the earth ... especially the really pretty or most fruitful ones. In order for most flowering bushes to bloom, they must be cared for and nurtured ... for most fruit trees to bear fruit, they must be pruned ... for a field of corn to grow, it must be farmed ... it fascinates me that I’m drawn to the plants that are the hardest to grow ... the ones that seem to actually fight the conditions in which I place them to grow. Just fascinating ... seems a little bit like life to me ...

I’ve been grumbling a lot, lately ... life is just hard, you know ... I know that many have it far worse than we do, so I’m not really pointing to our particular situation, but life in general ... it’s just hard.  Can I get an Amen!? I suppose that’s where the phrase ‘that’s life’ was coined, from someone who had experienced the curve balls more than once in their game. Recently, I had something happen to me that set me in the tailspin of beating on the chest of God again ... the logic board in my computer, which is only 2 years old, died ... just died. Shut it down one night, went to start it up the next morning and it wouldn’t start. We had had a storm in the night, so I wasn’t sure if it had been hit by lightening, or what, but the point was that I didn’t have time for my 2 year old computer to die!!! I immediately felt that emotion from within that screams ‘THIS IS NOT FAIR, GOD!!!!’ As I grumbled about it all morning to Him, declaring myself righteous enough to at least be protected from a 2 year old computer from dying, something made me stop and notice that I’ve been around this mountain before ... I’ve seen these signs before ... the grumbling, the emotion, the irritation with God whenever something goes wrong ... just seemed way to familiar and it caused me to pause and confess to God that I didn’t want to stay on this mountain any more. I’ve heard several teachings about how God will allow you to deal with the same trial many times over and over until you find victory over it ... you have heard the story of the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years, right?!? No one wanders a path that should only take 3-4 days for 40 years unless God intends for something to be learned there!!! So, not really wanting to stay here for 40 years, I asked for forgiveness and asked Him to show me how to move on and to get off of the ‘IT’S NOT FAIR’ ride.

And He reminded me of my flower bed ... how my beloved plants were struggling to survive, as the weeds were taking everything over without any care. Life on this earth IS hard, especially for Believers because we ARE NOT indigenous to this world ... John 15:19 says ‘we are IN this world, but not OF this world’ ... we are like the flowering plants that are not natural to the soil ... and how many of us might actually even be fighting our circumstances where God planted us with the intention of wanting us to grow there?! But because we were not created for this world, it's not natural to us so we can not be expected to just be planted and survive ... we NEED to be cared for ... and it might even take some work ...

We NEED to be watered and fed, we can not get our nourishment from things of this earth ... in Matthew 4, one of the temptations of Christ is documented when Jesus tells us that ‘man shall not live on bread alone’ ... we need to be fed with His Truth and nourished by the Holy Spirit. If you're feeling a bit 'dry' in your faith, Jesus says 'whoever drinks of the water I give, will never thirst again.' (John 4:10) ... how long has it been since you've taking the time to just drink Him in?! Don't you long to never be thirsty again?!

We NEED to be pruned ... in John 15:2, John points out that‘[God] cuts off every branch in us that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes’... what’s interesting here is that pruning is not a punishment but actually a recognition that life is abundant and growth is possible!! We should embrace and look forward to the pruning, as it is a PROMISE of fruit forthcoming!! PRAISE GOD!!

We NEED to be weeded ... throughout Scripture, we are told to be watchful of satan's schemes and also warned not to fall for the ways of the world ... Ephesians 6 tells us that God has provided full armor to us 'so that we can stand against the schemes of satan'. Matthew 13:24-29 documents one of Jesus’ parables on weeds and actually gives an interesting case for NOT pulling some of the weeds in our fields (an entire discussion, on it’s own), but it is the Holy Spirit who provides the wisdom as to which ones are weeds and which ones are flowers that are not fully mature in our lives.

And finally for a plant to be successful, there’s a delicate balance between the need for sunshine (which is when plants ‘work’) and the need for rest (Deuteronomy 5:12-14). But there is no rest like the rest we find in the arms of a loving Father who never sleeps.

As God has planted us in this world, it is His plan and hope that we would grow and blossom and become beautiful ... to be enjoyed by all around us and maybe even do a little 'cross-pollinating', if you will, to bring others into His kingdom garden ... while that may be His intention for us, this world is not our world, right now ... satan has dominion right now and HIS plan is to thwart the creation of God and to destroy all that is intended for us. For those who do not yet believe, he wants to steal their eternal life altogether, but for those of us who have received Jesus, he knows he can't take our salvation, but he can certainly make us bloomless or fruitless ... and so he releases the weeds of life and sends them where he knows they can grow and survive ... anger will grow in a household where life seems unfair ... disappointment will attempt to strangle any signs of hope in a struggling ministry ... jealousy will double in size if it is not pulled from the root of a relationship.

Another thing about weeds is that they are deceptive ... does that sound like an inherited trait from anyone we know ... the father of lies, maybe?!? They are deceptive in size, they are deceptive in how quickly they can grow, as well as how harmful they can be. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked past what seems like a tiny little weed one day and the next day it’s twice the size!  Tonight, I went to pull a weed that had gotten tangled in one of my plants only to realize that the entire backside of the plant had been all but taken over by the thing!!  Not exaggerating that it was 10 times the size I thought it was by the time I got it pulled. The weeds of satan are no different ... it’s important for us to get to the point in our walk where when we first see the weed, we stop ... we praise God for showing it to us and then we pull that little sucker out right then and there!! Sometimes it’s just a matter of discipline as we catch a bad thought running through our mind, but other times, the root may be way deeper and we will need to press in to God to reveal to us how far it goes, and the best way to deal with it. Sometimes it just takes a stronger hand ... and sometimes it requires the weed wacker, maybe even a chain saw, if you know what I mean!?! But the good news is that we have a Loving Gardener that cares and knows far more about us than we will EVER care or know about ourselves!!  Remember, He wrote a whole book on how to care for us!!

I had a revelation this week and I’m hoping He will give me the words to express it as fully as it came to me ... as I was praying for His return (pleading is a more accurate term), I suddenly had this revelation that when He comes ... and He IS COMING!! ... that He will complete and fulfill every possible desire, every possible dream, every possible need that we have EVER had, and because He knows us so intimately He will fulfill those we haven’t had ... He will fulfill it all in a blink of an eye ... everything! All of our lives and throughout mankind, His creation has manifested our needs in so many ways ... and more often than not, in so many destructively ways ... but all that we strive for and hope for, whether knowingly, or not ... He will fulfill 100% when He comes!! Everything!! That's better than waiting for any birthday surprise or Christmas present or even any vacation that I can think of!! All those things come and go, but when He comes, all of our expectations and hopes will be filled FOREVER!! Oh God, that makes me cry!!! Revelation 21 says that when He comes, there will be no more death, no more mourning or tears or pain ... but there will also be no more hoping, because He is our Hope! (Psalm 33:20) ... No more disappointment, because those who hope in Him will not be disappointed!! (Isaiah 49:23) ... No more fears, because fear is not of God (2 Timothy 1:7) ... And no more weeds, because He is doing a NEW THING and the old order of things will pass away! (Revelation 21:5)

He is bringing complete fulfillment of everything we’ve ever been seeking or wanting ever since we’ve been placed in this garden, known or unknown ... all because He loves us and longs to be with us, forever and ever!!! Doesn’t that get you more excited for His return than anything you could ever get excited about on this earth!! Just let your mind wrap itself around that thought and then open your arms up to Him in praise ... kind of makes you feel like a sunflower in His garden, raising its head towards the Son, doesn’t it?

Come Jesus, Come!!



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