I think my favorite season of the year is always the one that is coming next. I’m so excited to see that Spring has sprung here in Eastern Iowa. The grass is growing greener by the day! The tulips and daffodils are poking through the cold, hard soil and bringing bright colors and brighter hope.
Spring also makes me think of gardening. Pro-tip: My father-in-law says you should plant your potatoes on Good Friday.
When you’re working on growing lovely flowers or delicious produce in your garden, it is frustrating to see so many weeds springing up, choking the life out of your good plants. Why do weeds grow faster, stronger, and easier?
I don’t know the answer to that. But I do know what the solution is. When dealing with weeds, you do not just grab them and start ripping. You need to get down close, you try to get a little under the surface, you get a good strong grasp, and you ease them out of the soil, one by one. It’s super time consuming to do it right.
Our inner lives are kind of like a garden. The Bible is rich with harvest metaphors: sowing, reaping, watering, growing, vine-dressing, gleaning, and pruning.
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I was talking with someone this week who is going through a time of significant spiritual transformation. God is showing her some hard things about herself. She is feeling conviction about how she has been gardening her life: from how she projects her image, to how she receives feedback to how she treats her friends. It is a scary thing to look honestly at one’s life and discover maybe you’re overrun with some serious, deep-rooted weeds.
That honest look can bring guilt and shame. And if I’m not careful–fear. What is God going to do with me now, wretch that I am? Is He sufficiently annoyed with me that He’s giving up? Is he going to just start tearing at the weeds? Or might He wield some divine tiller to break up the soil of my idolatrous heart?
But that’s not how He gardens His children. He comes down close, He gets under the surface and with gentleness and wisdom He tugs our weeds out, one by one. He takes His time. I”m not saying it isn’t painful. But He’s careful. And gentle. And for you.
I’m proud of this person for the courage of honestly assessing her inner world. In response she’s been devouring God’s word. She has been praying, meditating, journaling. By God’s grace, she’s tilling up the soil of her own heart and making it more receptive for a new season of growing good fruit.
“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green” (Psalm 92:13-14).
Here’s to the beautiful growing season!
