After I wrote this I realized the concept of it is similiar to a previous post I made here. I'm realizing though, that a lot of times, the lessons I'm learning are just a deeper level of a previous lesson I've learned. My friend Alexandra compared it to an onion. It's not that I haven't learned the lesson already, it's that God is showing me a new layer. He's been doing it a lot lately.
Last month in Romania, my friend Laine and I were asked to help an older couple from Dragonesti with some yard work. Yard work ended up being moving piles upon piles of trash out of the land behind their farm. We literally raked the garbage that over time had mixed into the dirt and threw it over the fence into the neighboring property. I couldn’t believe how much trash we found.
What was even harder to believe was that under the layers of rubbish, plants were beginning to sprout! It surprised me that life could be growing under such filth and ugly things. Then it hit me; my life is just like that land we were clearing.
Over time, I’ve piled garbage upon garbage in my life. The garbage could be sins I can’t seem to shake. It might look like the lies I believe about myself. The trash could be doubts I have or insecurities. The thing is under all that trash lays life waiting to sprout up.
The same way that I moved the trash in that yard or the way I’ve moved leaves this month to make space for plants to grow, God is removing the trash in my life. This month, God has been showing me all this rubbish in my life that He wants to remove. He’s shown me just how insecure I am. He’s shown me how I compare myself to others. He’s revealed sins He wants me to walk away from.
John 15:1 says “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” God has to remove the things in our lives that aren’t bearing fruit. They get in the way of the things that will bear fruit.
As ugly as it is, I’m so grateful that God is raking through the garbage in my life. It means that he is moving away the bad things to make room for the beautiful things. What kind of garbage is covering up the life sprouting up in your life? What is God calling you to clear away to make room for beautiful things? Despite the pain, press in. I promise you, it’ll be worth it!
