This month my team is working in Quito at COVI (Central Opción de Vida aka center option of life), an after/before school program for street kids or kids from disadvantaged or abusive families. The kids are fed lunch and given a safe place to play, do crafts, do their homework etc. Besides playing with the kids, helping them with crafts, and serving them lunch, we’ve been spending a lot of our time weeding and clearing out COVI’s huge garden, in which they grow vegetables to help feed the children.
Similar to how we are weeding out the bad plants to improve the soil and make more room for the good plants, God is at work weeding in me. He is weeding out the characteristics that make me less effective in ministry, that don’t represent Jesus well, and that go against what He teaches.
Jesus is pulling out the weeds of selfishness and pride.
Jesus is yanking out the lies I believe…that I’m not good enough, not valued, or that I don’t have a voice worth hearing.
He is pulling out the false identities I walk in.
He is removing my jealousy of other ministry opportunities and my expectations.
Jesus is pulling out the weeds of my insecurities and fears.
He is throwing away my need for independence, forcing me to lean on others.
He’s planting selflessness, humility, and patience.
Jesus is growing an understanding of His truth…the truth that I am His beloved, the truth that there is nothing I can do to make God love me any more or any less, and the truth that the matter of my worth was settled at the cross.
Jesus is planting my ability to walk in my true identity in Christ, not letting the opinions of others, my performance, my appearance, or anything else make up my identity.
He is nurturing my positive attitude and willingness to see the purpose of any ministry assignment.
He is nurturing an ability to better love and give grace to others.
Jesus is planting boldness and leadership.
He is growing me in intimacy with and reliance on Him.
He is nurturing me into the person he has created me to be.
Some of my weeds are buried deep in hard soil making them difficult to remove, while others are more shallow and easier to pull out.
And just like weeding is a slow process, as we can work in the garden all day without feeling like we’ve made much of a difference, God’s work in ourselves is a gradual process. God works in us on his timing and in his way, not ours. Even though I want to see huge strides of growth and big changes in me and I want it on my time, I must trust His timing and His method.
Instead of hoes, gloves, shovels, and wheelbarrows, the tools God uses in the garden are challenges, tasks, uncomfortable situations, pain, surprises, joy, community, new experiences, accomplishments, people we meet, and His word.
At times I feel like I’m not growing or changing as much on the Race as I though I would, but I’m looking for the whole garden to be cleared and replanted at one time, instead of looking at individual plants or different sections of the garden. God is at work in me and in my squadmates, sometimes in ways we don’t even notice at first and sometimes in obvious ways. Weeding in us takes time and, really, God is never finished with us. This is what the World Race, and life in general with Jesus, is all about… being chiseled, weeded, grown, and shaped by God to be more like Jesus.
As we reign in the new year, let’s remember we don’t need New Year’s Eve to make resolutions, to be transformed, or to start fresh. We have a God of daily second chances and a God who never stops redeeming and reseting.
