Weeds.

It was Tuesday morning, 9am, a gorgeous 95 degrees, with clouds in the sky, and even a breeze to boot. 

Very un-Phoenix for August, I must say. 

HECK.  YES.

So, this is a pic form last summer, but this was how the sky looked on Tuesday too.

I didn't realize a dust storm was blowing in, but, naturally, I decide to catch up on yard work, with my new-found kid-free time (i.e. school is now in session) and new-found beautiful weather.

As I am pulling weeds (how DO they grow so fast?!), edging, mowing, watering, throwing out broken toys, and all-in-all getting wonderfully sweaty, I begin contemplating how nice it would be to live in a world without weeds.

Can you imagine such a place?  Lovely. :)

Then, I transitioned into thinking about how much work it really takes to keep weeds away.  Even using sprays, and consistent time, it's quite an effort, right?  So, I thought, "Maybe I'll just stop watering the weeds.  I mean, they can't live without nourishment." which, of course, would lead to my grass and garden dying too....details, details.  Alas.

Dry grass and weeds. Not ideal.

But, ya know what?  Life and Relationships are that way too:

We may spend our time pulling out the small weeds, but get weary at the tenacity of the weeds,
Or maybe we ignore the weeds and let them overtake whatever Beauty could be,
Or maybe we just stop watering the whole dang thing, and try to convince ourselves that no weeds = health, even if it is a barren land all around.

 

I'm talking pain, conflict, confusion, suffering, injustice, and a whole host of challenges that exist because we live in a world with Sin.  Who isn't weary of such struggles?

 

Yet, all my wishing for a world without weeds won't change anything.  

Weeds exist.
Only talking about them won't have them pulled up. 
Not watering them will kill the Good as well. 
Ignoring them creates really big and challenging problems. 
Yet, steady plodding can become so....tiresome, if the focus shifts purely to eradicating weeds, ya know?

So how do we stay faithful and present?  How do we stay engaged and focused?  How do we not become overwhelmed or broken or ineffective? 

We could ignore the conflict and wounds, and keep pushing forward in work, relationships, church, prayer...yet never really having the rest that could exist with such effort spent on the Good,

We could isolate, and never face our wounds, and stop seeking Truth, and disengage from all Good things, proud that we don't have conflict, or sorrow, or disappointments...yet naked and blind and poor all the same,

OR, we can lovingly engage with Truth, trusting Jesus even with this never-finished-til-I'm-in-Heaven process.

In reading A.W. Tozer's book, The Pursuit of God, he has this wonderful paragraph, saying,

"Important as it is that we recognize God working in us, I would yet warn against a too-great preoccupation with the thought.  It is a sure road to sterile passivity.  God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination and the divine sovereignty.  The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, "O Lord, Thou knowest."  Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God's omniscience.  Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints."

I so appreciate this, for while I LOVE diving into theology, philosophy, and all sorts of possibilities, this is all worthless if it does not affect my heart...my relationships...my world!  How is all this Truth helpful to me right NOW, with who I am TODAY, with the problems and questions and pain that I am CURRENTLY walking through?

The Truth is helpful, because it is a Person: Jesus, and He IS trustworthy.

I can face the conflict,
process the wounds,
take the next step, and
enjoy Beauty,
for Jesus is faithful to complete what He starts.  

Green...Life...Beauty...can be cultivated.  Even in the desert.

I am free to be me, cultivating the world He has placed me in, following His movements, obeying and sacrificing and serving and loving and enjoying, because He is in charge.  Because He is Good.  Because He is Present!

I am thankful for the many lessons I've learned on how to pull weeds in my own heart, in relationships, and in life; but truly, my ability to find rest and purpose and joy comes down to my willingness to trust in Him. 

Here's an beautiful song that reflects this:

And I even got my yard work all done before the dust and rain blew in and transformed my yard into a place of Life.  Huzzah!


Resting in Him,
Carlene