Our ministry here in Romania has been much less structured than that of Ukraine. Honestly, most days we have to be very intentional about finding ways in which to serve. While we spend many days serving at Jubilee Ministries (described in my previous post), we have found that one of our most immediate ministry opportunities is simply serving here at Casa Shalom (the home that we are staying at this month). There is a group of women at Casa Shalom who work tirelessly to make this a beautiful and comfortable haven for missions groups such as ourselves to stay in temporarily. During our time here, it has become evident that there is so much work to be done here, and there are many opportunities for us to serve these women by simply performing household chores.
One day last week, the women told us that they could use some help doing yard work. They led us to an area that must have been a garden at one time, but had been entirely overtaken by weeds. So, we got on our hands and knees and got to work pulling up the weeds. I was more than happy to do this, as few things make me happier than getting my hands in some good ole dirt- this was definitely the ideal chore. I was shocked, though, when one of the girls who lives at Casa Shalom told us that she had pulled up all the weeds from this area just a month ago. I looked around- the place was completely overgrown with weeds. It looked as though this land hadn’t been tended to in years; I didn’t understand how in just one short month all of these weeds had completely overtaken this land.
As I watched this girl work, though, I realized the problem: her idea of pulling up weeds was simply pulling a few of the leaves off the top, leaving the stalk and the root. I recognized the necessity of actually digging into the ground and pulling up the root of the weed in order for our work to have any lasting effect. The longer I worked, though, the more I realized the amount of labor required to pull up the roots of weeds- I was quickly getting exhausted. I also noticed what a mess I was making of the ground- in order to pull out the weed, I was literally having to tear up the ground beneath me.
I can’t help but think about how similar this is to the way that God is working in my heart. There are weeds in my heart- those things that have crept in and attempted to overtake my heart in order to hinder the fruit the fruit of the Spirit of God in me. It’s time for those weeds to come out. Oh, how easy it would be to simply pull of the tops of these weeds. I would probably feel better about myself for some time. I may even look better, healthier to the people around me. But God’s desire for my life is not to pull off the tops of these weeds- He is after the root. In the same way that I had to tear up the ground, though, my heart is having to be broken apart in order for the roots to be exposed and pulled out. I am becoming more and more aware that pulling weeds out by the root is exhausting work- it would be so much easier to simply cut off the tops. But, I know in my heart, that I never want to be a “whitewashed tomb”- one who cleans the outside, but allows death to remain inside. I don’t want roots to remain underneath the surface of my heart.
After I finished pulling up weeds in a small area of land, I looked at the soil. A couple hours before, this land had been overgrown with weeds- incapable of growing fruit and serving the purpose for which it exists. After some hard work, though, this soil was fertile and ready for planting. And this is my prayer…that God is forming my heart into fertile soil, much like the soil that Jesus describes in Matthew 13. I pray that, after some hard work and a period of brokenness and weed pulling, my heart would be like “the good soil- the man who hears the word and understands it [and] produces a crop” (Matthew 13:23). I pray that my heart would be the soil that is capable of producing fruit and serving the purpose for which it exists.
“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control” (Galatians 5:22).
