PULLING WEEDS

I am an amateur flower gardener. I do not know proper perennial etiquette but if colourful flowers catch my eye then into my garden they go. I spend many hours in there, pruning, weeding, fertilizing, and talking to my pretty plants. My flower patch is my mental health break where I go to declutter my mind as well as my garden. If Wendy or Sheila comes across the path they know they need to announce their arrival to prevent a clump of weeds hitting them in the side of the head.

So how did my flower garden get to be such a wreck!? I pulled and pulled weeds and grass and as I sat and looked at the mound of weeds I wondered where it all came from? My flowers were in danger of being totally overtaken. I was able to pinpoint my garden’s demise to two summers of neglect. One season I had knee surgery in June and although the surgery corrected my problem, I still was not able to crouch to attend my flowers that year. Last June Jeff had a heart attack, and my summer schedule got a bit full so another season went by with only dong the bare essentials. The results were my property quickly returned to the wild and all of the nasties frolicked happily. There are no easy solutions or quick fixes other than to pull the weeds, one by one … and keep pulling them … and be on the lookout for more.

I sat in my flower bed thinking of all the times in my life when I allowed the weeds to take over, weeds like anger, fear, discontentment, unforgiveness, and discouragement. I could add a long list. Do you have a list? Once those little seeds settle in and take root they are hard to get rid of. They call all their relatives and set up residence in your life. If you don’t pluck them out they can choke the life out of everything good until there is no sign of the previous beauty. Those are the times when the enemy of our souls takes the opportunity to make all things ugly.

During the “weedy” times in my life I have found that I have not been as diligent in the things I ought to such as:

Reading my Bible (a guaranteed weed zapper).

Studying His word (yes, don’t forget to fertilize).

My prayer life (the perfect mulch, keeps the good things in and the bad things out).

Worshipping and studying with other believers (better than any Roundup).

Relying on God instead of myself (the nourishing sunshine and rain).

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT

With God’s help I am working on keeping the weeds pulled. It is a battle and at times I want to give up and wonder if I can do it, but God has promised to be with us in this battle. He did not promise that it would be easy but only that He would help us and fight for us. So keep watching for weeds and keep pulling them … one by one. The results are beautiful.