Do any of you enjoy gardening? Getting down in the dirt? Cultivating areas to plant? Tending to the plants you want to grow? Removing those you don’t want?
It might be a few small pots and/or small garden boxes on a balcony, or on a patio. It might be a small patch of dirt in your front or backyard. It might be a generously large plot of ground surrounding your home.
Whatever your space for gardening is, if you are anything like me, you find gardening to be a time of personal reflection and connection with God’s creation in nature. For me, it is also a time to have honest, personal, “down-in-the-dirt” conversations with God.
I am constantly and consistently reminded of God’s glorious creative ability when I am gardening! But also, as I labor and sweat in my garden, I am constantly and consistently reminded of Adam’s and Eve’s fall because of sin in the Garden of Eden. And as I pull the weeds out of my garden, I am constantly and consistently reminded of Humanity’s fall along with them!
But I am overjoyed to say that the story of my relationship with God does not end there!
It is by the grace of God, through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that I am able to have my relationship re-established to what it should have been before Adam and Eve messed up. As God pulled on my heart, I believed what Jesus died for me and I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.
I know many of my readers have done that. However, any reader who has not done that and desires to know more, PLEASE contact me thru this site and I will be again, overjoyed to discuss it with you!
Back to gardening, weeds, and God!
. . .
One day I was in my backyard pulling weeds. As I did, I found a few tiny weeds growing through pieces of the bark mulch I had around our apricot tree.
When I say growing through, I don’t mean growing between some of the pieces of bark. There were some weeds that were doing that, growing between pieces of bark. But when I say through, I mean through a tiny crack in one piece of bark. Not only was one weed doing that, but there were 4-5 tiny weeds doing that in cracks in other pieces of bark!
As I picked up the piece of bark I could see the weed on one side, and when I turned the bark over, I could see the root on the other side. On some of the pieces of bark, you had to look really close to even notice the crack in the bark. In those cases, it looked like the weed had somehow drilled itself through the wood!
As I looked at those pieces of bark God taught me something about living for Christ.
It was as if God whispered in my ear, but definitely, it was very clear in my mind, that God told me,
“See how these weeds look like they’re growing through the wood? They aren’t. They’re growing through tiny cracks in the wood. Those weeds are able to find the tiniest cracks in the wood and grow through those cracks!
Duane, that is exactly what happens to you. All sin needs is the tiniest of cracks to begin to grow in you. Cracks of “tiny”, “small” wrong motives, wrong attitudes, wrong thoughts, or wrong actions. That is when sin insinuates itself into your life! Sin begins to grow. And the good you do gives you a false sense of being right with me.
Doing right for Me is not the same as being right with Me. Duane, I know your frame, and part of you being right with Me is to spend quality time, in honest, transparent conversation with Me. Just like you are doing now, here in the backyard.”
God was reminding me that I need to be watchful and on guard for any sins that easily creep into me. I cannot do that on my own. It is only with submission to the Holy Spirit within me, that God helps me to be vigilant and watchful for those things that cause “cracks” in my Christian life.
Daily, hourly, moment by moment, I need to seek the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, instruction, guidance and leading in all I think, say and do. I know for me, that happens most consistently and frequently when I am gardening.
That may, or may not be the same for you.
Seek God. He will show you how He communes with you. God knows YOUR frame. (Ps 103:14)