One of the opportunities I have been given to raise funds for the World Race has been to pull weeds. I know, it sounds boring, and you’re probably wondering why I’m even bringing it up but believe it or not, it inspired food for thought I want to share with you.
At first pulling weeds seemed a daunting and undesirable task. As I began pulling weeds, thoughts began to come to me and I don’t necessarily believe they were my own.
As you all know, to do an efficient job pulling weeds it’s VERY important to ensure the root comes up or they will just keep growing back and growing back and growing back… and all the work of trying to get rid of it is pointless because it’s just a temporary fix. It only APPEARS to be gone.
Some weeds are newly sprouting and with little force and skill it’s simple to get the whole plant with the root included.
Of course the bigger weeds get a bit trickier. With much force and more skill it takes more work and thought to remove it. Sometimes the plant breaks off before you can reach the root, sometimes only some of the root comes out, and worst case scenario it’s so stubbornly rooted you have to use a garden shovel to dig for it.
Some weeds appear small but their roots wind and spiral far beneath the surface.
Some weeds look very large and intimidating but the roots are weak and are very easy to remove.
And then you have dandelions. My arch nemesis that day. These (far too many) dandelions look small and sort of pretty in their own way, but then when it comes to pulling them out the roots aren’t necessarily strong but they are insane and nearly impossible to get them all. I had to dig and dig and most the time I gave up disappointed.
I was also asked to uproot the very beginnings of “a tiny tree”. This was the most difficult challenge of the day and left my back achy the next day. It was also the most eye opening. The beautiful thing about the tree (which I felt really guilty trying to take out) was what I couldn’t see at first glance. As I began trying to figure out a way to get this thing out of the ground I shortly discovered I was up against a large network of thick, beautifully grown roots that had obviously taken a lot of time, nourishment, and energy to grow. The roots extended endlessly in all directions. This small tree blew me away by the fact that it wasn’t small at all beneath the surface and it was designed to grow big, strong, and beautiful.
Where am I getting at you say? Well, this whole garden made me wonder what my heart looks like. I visualized my heart as a garden and the gardener isn’t me. I can try to remove the evil things, desires, thoughts (weeds of all types-some just starting, some deeply rooted, some that appear small but aren’t at all) in my heart myself but you see I would just be ripping the plant apart and leaving the roots for it only to come back. I’ve tried this over and over again. Unfortunately, this is how I have lived most of my life, thinking I can do things myself. The ONLY one who can uproot the ugliest parts of my heart is Jesus. I am powerless without His help. He is the only one with the power and desire to remove all of the worst parts of me and replace them with new seeds in His image to be sown that grow deep, strong, beautiful roots that eventually become trees that bear lovely fruits!
He is the gardener, NOT ME. He tends to the garden, but only IF I LET HIM. If I don’t let him, the weeds grow deeper and become more glaring and obvious as time progresses. If the garden doesn’t get the nourishment it needs over time it will surely shrivel up and die.
I believe that Jesus is hard at work in my garden as a new believer because for so many years I never let Him in my heart. He’s changing me from the inside out. The ways I let Jesus in and allow him to nourish and continue to tend to this messy heart of mine are by first recognizing that I NEED HIM and left to my own devices only pure chaos and pain ensues, letting him into THE WHOLE GARDEN that is my heart, not just pieces of it..spending time with Him in prayer, surrounding myself with a community of people who let Jesus into their hearts too, pouring into the word-which is the nourishment the garden needs on a daily basis to thrive, by remembering the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and by trying to be more like Him everyday ESPECIALLY when I don’t want to.
Who’s the gardener of your heart?
