My brother and I helped a dear friend with some yard work one day this summer, and my thinking cap kicked in about midway through the day. She had asked me to come out earlier in that week because her basement had flooded from the storms and she was unable to do much as far as cleaning up. She has had a bad back for several years and can’t be on her feet for more than ten minutes without severe pain, so any heavy lifting or moving was out of the question. While I was there that Monday, we also talked about her yard and how bad it had gotten since her riding mower broke down. She also was unable to get her push mower started, and weeds had pretty much taken over the garden in front. Needless to say, she was pretty overwhelmed by what needed to be done, so I offered to come back up over the weekend and do some work.
At first glance, it seemed like a job that would be too much for even me and my brother to handle, but we got started anyway. He worked on mowing, and I worked on pulling weeds. After a while, I realized that what had seemed like a lot wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. There were a lot of very tall, imposing weeds, but they weren’t rooted very deeply and came out pretty easily. I got to thinking about how many times my life has resembled that yard and garden. So many times, a weed or two has taken root in my life and so quickly overgrown everything good I had going on in it. I would look at the mess my life had become and feel so overwhelmed by what looked like an impossible task to take on…clearing out my life on my own. And if I had tried to clear things out on my own, it would have been impossible. But just like my friend had to do with her yard, I needed to look to someone else to take on what I couldn’t. I needed someone who could look at my life with a different perspective and say this is not an impossible task. That someone was and is Jesus. When you open your life up to let Jesus take over and start clearing things out, you start to realize that what looked impossible is actually possible. The things you thought had gotten so rooted into your life come out pretty easily.
Jesus never promised that life would be easy or that we’d never run into obstacles. He only promised that He would be there to help when we find ourselves in a garden overwhelmed by weeds. And yes, sometimes there will be a weed that is stubborn and needs a little extra encouragement to come out, but Jesus is infinitely patient with us. He’s usually a lot more patient than we are with ourselves, and He reminds me time and time again to slow down. Even the tougher weeds will get pulled out eventually. Whenever you get to a point in your life where you are just too tired and overwhelmed by the obstacle you are facing, give it up to Jesus and let Him handle some of the heavy lifting. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to Me all of you who are weary and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.” So take heart, beloved! You don’t have to face those obstacles alone.
