Weeds

It sometimes seems almost malicious the way that weeds seem to crop up in our perfectly manicured gardens despite our best efforts to keep them out. But if we think about it just a little, it should come as no surprise that thorns and thistles spontaneously sprout up in our gardens. After all, by the time we are done with our little garden plot, bringing in the best soil, making sure that it's getting consistent water, engineering the perfect amount of sunshine, what plant wouldn't want to grow in that spot, given half a chance? The better our garden, the harder that plants of all kinds are going to want to put down roots in that exact spot. If we find that we are getting a lot of weeds, that just means we are on the right track. After all, if a patch of land is too rocky and toxic for even weeds to grow in, then it is unlikely that anything good can grow there either. When we are trying to put our lives together and walk down the right path, it seems that the opposition from Satan only gets more intense. Now, Satan doesn't like seeing us succeed or be happy, so of course he's going to try harder when we start to do things that lead to success and happiness. But a big part of the reason that the opposition seems fiercer when we are actually going better is that Satan has more to work with. If our heart is a stony, desiccated, trash-filled scrap of dirt, Satan isn't going to bother sowing too many tares in our little plot because nothing is going to grow anyway. But if we've got this beautifully tilled field with all of the perfect conditions for growth, then not only is Satan going to spread as many weeds as he can, but those seeds actually have a decent chance of sprouting and growing. If we open ourselves to more kinds of temptation as we repent and grow, then the good news is that we also open ourselves up to more seeds of faith taking root and eventually yielding the fruits of the Spirit. If we have to put up with some more weeds as we develop our fields to be more and more fruitful, we only have to endure the weeds for a season. When it comes time to harvest, God will help us sort out the good from the bad, but as long as our piles of wheat stack up a lot higher than the piles of tares, then that's a win for us. If we keep finding more and more weeds, that just means we are getting better and better at growing things. Let us not let our fear of weeds stop us from trying hard enough to let the good things grow in our lives.